House Arrest
by forsaken2003
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbor.
1. Chapter 1

Title: House Arrest 1/20+ Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part One**

"Do you think he sees us?" William asked his father, his body tense.

"No, he can't see us. But he feels us watching," Ethan replied, completely calm.

They stared into the deep blue water; a few feet beneath the surface something shimmered in the sunlight. As ripples dissipated a bright yellow crank bait waited patiently for its prey on the end of a 10-pound line. A huge black bass suddenly swooped and circled the bait.

Both men were startled at the sight. William, a clean-cut kid with bright blue eyes and bleach blonde hair, reflexively yanked back on his rod and reel. "Bloody hell, do you see that thing?" he asked as he anxiously wound the spool.

"Settle down, slow it down..." Ethan lightly put his hand on William's, and slowed the cranking to a slight, steady pull as they stood near the stern of their 16-foot Bassmaster.

Ethan wore a silk screened cartoon rendition of a Bass wearing aviator goggles with mounted missiles on its fins. Beneath it, the slogan: "Weapons of Bass Destruction."

The fish on William's shirt wore a stock car uniform, a single word across the bottom: BASSCAR.

Ethan steadied William's hand and pulled away. "You don't want to scare him off. You've got his attention, now just play with him. Tease him a little."

William and Ethan watched the water in anxious silence. William inched the line back toward the boat. One more crank, then the black bass suddenly attacked the lure with a tremendous slosh of his tail.

"Holy shit!" William cried out startled from the sudden movement.

"It's all you, Will, keep cranking!" Ethan encouraged his son.

William cranked fast and furious. But this one fish was going down fighting. "I need reinforcements!"

Ethan moved in and grabbed the rod and reel from behind William. "Heave, laddie!" They pulled, the rod curled under the weight. "Give it all ya got, mate, or you're gonna lose him!" Ethan said in a sorry attempt at a pirate accent.

William laughed while he pulled and struggled. "Da', your pirate - impersonation -sucks!"

"How would ya know, have ya ever met one? I doubt it," Ethan shot back with a laugh of his own.

The bass sloshed furiously around the bait, now just a few feet from the boat.

"Bloody hell. He's fucking pulling us in!" William exclaimed and kept a hold on the rod.

The bass suddenly snapped free and the line went limp. Ethan and William lost their balance and nearly fell backwards.

All became silent save for Ethan and William's heavy breathing. William wound the empty line back to the boat, shot a glance at his father, and then threw the rod aside in mock disgust. Ethan took a seat in the captain's chair. "Throw me a…" William was already at the cooler and tossed him a Coke. They both sat in silence. "Hey, at least the weather's great and we're spending quality time together."

"Yeah… this is good," William agreed. He and his father didn't spend a lot of time together. Mostly just on their annual fishing trips.

"Look, Will…" Ethan started, and then paused. "I don't want you thinking that your mother or I have been prying into your personal life. Your mother stumbled across some… magazines in your room when she was searching out your laundry."

William tensed up, "Magazines?" He had been sure he stuck them back under his mattress where no one would ever find them.

"You left them on your nightstand." Ethan explained. "I just want you to know that we aren't disappointed. You can't help who you may or may not fall in love with, girl or boy. In the end we just want you to be happy, all right?"

William nodded and grabbed the rod, "That fish is going down."

Ethan grinned, "Let's nab the sodding bastard." They both cast their lines.

As Ethan drove his SVU the sun was setting behind the mountains. William was on the phone with his mother. "Hey mum, it's us. Listen; fire the grill 'cause the Bassmasters are headed home!"

Ethan slapped William a high five as he veered the SUV into the left lane and passed a low-moving Pathfinder.

"You're kidding. So I can actually put the burgers away this time?" Joyce's voice came over the phone.

"Yes, be gone with the red meat!" William replied with a laugh. He knew they would be stopping off at grocery store to pick up the fish that they didn't catch.

Ethan grabbed the phone from William. "We're having fish for a week," Ethan told his wife.

William frowned as a Lincoln Navigator pick-up zoomed past in the right lane, and then swerved back in the left lane in front of them.

"I'd say an hour. Love you, too." Ethan flipped the phone shut and tossed it to William. They exchanged smiles. They both turned to face the road as the Navigator suddenly swerved back into the right lane, and revealed a stalled mini-van directly in front of them.

"DAD!" William yelled; his heart jumped into his throat.

Ethan instinctively reached his arm in front of William as he swung the wheel hard to the right and slammed on the brakes. But not in time. The SUV clipped the mini-van's right rear bumper, and smashed it into the left lane concrete barricade. The SUV spun into the right lane where the slow moving Pathfinder suddenly broadsided it with such force that it flipped the SUV up and over. The SVU tumbled off the highway. A couple of final, metal-crunching flips sent the SUV's undercarriage crashing to a violent stop on top of a rickety wood beam-mounted guardrail. Steam billowed from the hood.

The airbags deflated and the dust settled. Blood streamed from Ethan's hairline. His eyes fluttered open. He looked up to William, strapped in the passenger seat, unconscious. There was a small gash on William's forehead. "Will? Will, are you okay?"

William opened his eyes and Ethan reached up and touched William's head. "I think so." He looked at his dad and his eyes widened in horror, not only at the sight of Ethan, but of the ravine beneath them.

For this brief moment, they thought the SUV was stable, but it was perched lengthwise on top of the guardrail at a forty-five degree downward angle. The right front and rear tires precariously gripped the rail and kept it from plunging five hundred feet into the ravine below.

"Oh my God, Da'," William breathed heavily trying to remain calm so he wouldn't move.

Ethan panted heavily as well. "I'm fine. But you're gonna have to climb out, Will. Can you do that?"

William's hands shook from the shock as his fingers searched for the seatbelt buckle. But the shoulder strap was locked in place and prevented William from undoing it. He tugged at it furiously. "I can't… It won't give …"

"That's okay, I've got it… Grab the door, and I don't need your arse falling on my face." Ethan said as he tried to lighten the mood and calm his son down.

William reached up, gripped the outside of the door as Ethan's hand shakily reached to William's seatbelt buckle and pressed. William's belt snapped loose and he dropped but he hung on to the window, just as a guardrail beam snapped loose from its foundation.

The car rocked violently as the guardrail started to bend and peel away from the cliff-side under the SUV's weight.

Ethan reached up and grabbed William's legs and pushed, helping him climb out the window.

William slowly slid down the outside of the door, and then turned around on his chest. He reached his hand back down to Ethan. "Da', here."

Ethan reached up as a section of the guardrail riveted a few inches behind the SUV's rear bumper suddenly popped loose. The guardrail snapped in two.

William screamed and hung on for dear life as the guardrail and SUV swung out and over the ravine. The guardrail was buckling fast. Another beam ripped free of the foundation William slid a few more inches down the door and right front fender and allowed his feet to find the edge of the foundering rail underneath. Having found at least some footing, William reached back inside. "Da', please, you can do it."

Ethan unbuckled his belt and reached up. William summoned his strength and grabbed Ethan's wrist. He pulled him up and through the passenger window just as the SVU began to fall away.

Ethan's weight pulled William down. His feet slipped off the rail. William was slammed chest down, his torso wrapped around the top of the rail and his feet dangled. But he still clutched Ethan's wrist as the SUV crashed into the ravine with a mushroom cloud of dust and debris. Ethan's wrist slipped from William's grasp. William struggled to hang on, but he was losing the battle and the balancing act and he knew it. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Will, you have to climb up," Ethan told his son.

"No, I'm not leaving," William told his father. He couldn't leave him.

"William," Ethan said but was interrupted when another guardrail beam uprooted.

William tightened his hold. "NO! Da', please, I've got you."

Ethan gave him a slight smile. "I know." Ethan's left hand clasped William's. The guardrail continued to buckle. He started to pry William's hand away and his arm was released from William's grip. William opened his mouth to scream.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: House Arrest 2/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Note:* indicates translation from Spanish to English

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Two **

**One Year Later:**

The bell rung at Sunnydale high school, the students disappeared into their respective classrooms and the corridor quieted down.

"Este verano, después de visitar Hawaii sí les voy a visitar a mis abuelos en Irlanda." Daniel 'Oz' Osborne said in Spanish; he had a knack for speaking perfect Spanish. He stood at the front of the class giving his speech. * This summer, after visiting Hawaii, I will perhaps visit my grandparents in Ireland.

"Gracias, Daniel." Senor Gutierrez told Oz. Gutierrez shook his head as he zeroed in on the student behind Oz. A boy was asleep with his arms folded on his desk, a grey hoodie pulled over his head. "Senor Rayne..." He took a chalk eraser and threw it at the kid. It smacked him onto of the head.

He still didn't budge. Oz nudged him. "Dude…"

The kid stirred and raised his head. The hoodie fell away and revealed William's face. His hair was disheveled and the spark that had been in his blue eyes the year before had been replaced with an empty haze.

"So William, think you can stay conscious long enough to tell us your plans for the three wondrous summer months ahead?" Senor Gutierrez asked sarcastically.

William glanced around. All eyes were on him. He looked at Oz who nodded in support. William stood up, and headed to the front of the class. He paused trying to focus. "Este invierno…" William started and the class chuckled. *This Winter.

"Verano..." Gutierrez corrected William.

William continued, "Este verano - voy a …" *This summer… I

"¿Qué?" Gutierrez interrupted. *What?

William shut his eyes, frustrated at the interruption. Senor Gutierrez who was also losing patience, he stepped closer to William. "¿Qué usted va a hacer?" *What are you going to do?

"I don't know, all right? I haven't gotten that bloody far," William snapped at his Spanish teacher.

"Did you do the homework or not?" Gutierrez asked impatiently. He hated having his time wasted.

William made no eye contact. "Guess not."

Senor Gutierrez got into William's face. "You 'guess' not. I don't know who you think you are or who you think you're dealing with. You can't give me a straight answer, fine; give me one good reason why I shouldn't fail you right now." Senor Gutierrez paused and then whispered. "What would your father think?"

William's head snapped up and he looked at his teacher. He reared his arm back and punched Gutierrez in the face.

Gutierrez sat in the juvenile courtroom and displayed a black eye. Sitting next to him was the school's principal and counselor in a single row of seats behind the attorneys' tables.

William was a little more cleaned up. He wore a suit and sat between Joyce and his defense attorney.

Joyce who was noticeably tired glanced at her son, her expression a combination of anger and sympathy. William's eyes shifted away from hers, but his head never turned. The judge mulled over his notes.

"Okay, Mr. Rayne..." The judge spoke and William's lawyer promptly stood. The judge continued. "You're six months shy of eighteen that means the assault-two charge you've pled guilty to carries a max of one year in juvie. With these priors, you're up to three." The judge let that sink in and William remained silent. "But losing a parent isn't easy, which is why I'm sentencing you to three months house arrest."

Joyce closed her eyes in relief.

"You can thank your counselors and lawyer later. Mr. Rayne, I just cut you a break. Don't test me." The judge tapped his gavel.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: House Arrest 3/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd By: Whichclothes

**Part Three**

A pair of hands wrapped an electronic monitoring bracelet around Williams's left ankle. Jenny Calendar, William's case officer clicked the bracelets buckle into place and a green LED lit up on top of the edge of the bracelet so William could easily see it when he looked down. Next to that light was an additional red light that wasn't on.

Jenny made a final check "Okay, you... are all set... to go nowhere. Now, green means you're good; you're in the safe zone which covers about a sixty-foot radius from this guy here." She pointed to a big black box in the central tracking unit that sat on top of the kitchen counter. "He's like a modem. He gets a constant signal from Mr. Bracelet that he sends through your phone line to the monitoring station downtown. So they know where you are, where you've been and what you're thinking 24/7."

Joyce looked more than a little concerned. "What if he accidentally goes beyond…?"

"Red light flashes. Means you've got about ten seconds to get your butt back to green, or else…" Jenny said and pointed to the unlit red light.

"The bloody execution squad shows up?" William said with distaste.

"And they don't bring blindfolds. It's also tamper-proof and waterproof. So don't try sticking your foot in a bucket of water and hopping across the line. It won't work, and you'll look stupid. Now, I'll be checking up on you a lot. Everything else is in the manual. Here's my card," Jenny said as she handed her card to William. "Are you set up to pay his incarceration fee, Mrs. Rayne?"

"No." Joyce told Jenny.

"Twelve bucks every day," Jenny said to Joyce. "I accept all major credit cards."

"Great," Joyce said with a fake smile and a look to William. "My wallet is over here."

William looked down at his new attire. When an officer stepped in front of him, he looked up. "Officer..." William greeted and looked at the nametag. "Gutierrez?"

"Your Spanish teacher, he's my cousin," Officer Gutierrez said as he crossed his arms and looked menacing.

Jenny came back and didn't notice the look the Gutierrez gave William. "Oh, expect this, house arrest might sound like a breeze, but trust me; I've seen all kinds of folks get a bit loopy before too long, some after just a day or two. So make sure you find lots of constructive things to keep yourself busy."

William sat in his room wearing his XBox Live headset as he played HALO 2. He was on the final boss level. Gunfire and explosions blared over his stereo speakers. "Hobby, you read me? I said come around my left flank and draw his fire… damn straight I'm trying to get you smoked, you've been hiding behind my arse the whole game…" He said into the headset. Suddenly there was a glitch on the TV screen. "Hobby, Jet, you guys still there?"

The screen went black. The Xbox live logo appeared along with the words: 'Server Error' William threw the headset aside, made sure all the wires were connected and checked the TV screen. The words remained on the screen. William glared at the screen another moment before he wandered out of his room.

The kitchen was a mess as William rummaged through the cabinets. Lots of Costco-size boxes: crackers, Pringles and a huge box of Twinkies. William spotted a jar of peanut butter. He grabbed the nearest bowl, pulled a bottle of Hershey's syrup from the fridge, and poured it all into the bowl.

Just as he was about to throw the syrup bottle in the trash, something in the bottom of the can caught his eye. He reached in, pulled out a bill for XBox Live subscription. It had been canceled.

William lounged on the couch and watched "The Price is Right" as he spooned the peanut butter from the jar, dipped it in the bowl of chocolate syrup, and devoured it. He brought up a two-liter of Mountain Dew, and took a big swig to wash it all down. "Come on, bid a dollar. One bloody dollar," he said to one of the contestants.

"I'll bid one dollar, Bob." The contestant said.

William belched as he raised his spoon, and saluted the screen. Suddenly a grave concerned look crossed his face.

The toilet flushed and William opened the door, did up his jeans and leaned against the frame, spent. He stood there a moment, absorbing the silence of the house. He eyed a door at the end of the hall.

William's hand rested on the door knob as he tried to decide if he should enter or not. He finally decided to enter.

There was a cherry wood desk and plush leather chairs. On the desk lay his father's reading glasses that sat on a stack of papers next to an antique typewriter.

The walls were filled with framed; poster-size covers of the books his dad had written. On another wall was a family portrait of Ethan, Joyce, and himself at the age six.

William took it all in from the doorway; he couldn't make himself go into the room. He gently pulled the door shut.

William sampled some rap clips on iTunes. He liked what he heard and moved the cursor so he could buy the song. The screen account popped up and he typed in his password.

He waited patiently for access but bold red letters popped up: "THE APPLE ID OR PASSWORD YOU ENTERED WAS INVALID OR INCORRECT..." William retyped it again. Same thing. Then like everyone does to be sure, William typed his password at a rate of one key per second. Again the same thing. William fumed; he smelt a rat.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: House Arrest 4/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Four**

A couple days later found William in his bed the shades were drawn and the door closed.

He was utterly miserable. He lounged in bed as he watched a couple of hot ripped guys on a beach rubbing suntan lotion all over them on HD NET. Joyce entered wearing a business suit and name badge emblazoned with the RE/MAX logo. William quickly changed the channel to the local news.

Joyce headed to the window. "More trash TV?"

"...Thirty-three year old Patricia Walsh was last seen three nights ago. She left in a black 1965 Mustang convertible with a bashed-in right front fender" the news anchor on the television said.

"News," William replied innocently. He pointed to the TV showing a photo of a smiling Patricia Walsh with vibrant, flowing red hair. "Missing" keyed in underneath the picture.

Joyce shot him a look, and then ripped open the blinds; sunlight poured in. She gathered clothes off the floor.

"You canceled my XBox subscription," he accused her.

"ITunes, too." She informed him. "You know what else I'm canceling?"

William turned to Joyce who suddenly dropped a pile of his clothes on the floor in front of him. "Maid service." She placed her hands on her hips. "Look, Will, I'm sorry you're a felon but this is not a vacation. I have two open houses today. I want you to clean up this room and clean up the kitchen."

"Let me just check my schedule," William replied sarcastically. He was already being punished why should he have to do cleaning as well?

"Well let me make it easier." Joyce went to the television and unplugged it.

"That's a little dramatic, isn't it? I'm just gonna plug it back in." William sighed. His mum got worked up over the littlest things.

"Dramatic?" Joyce suddenly yanked a pair of scissors off his desk and snipped the power cord in half. "That is dramatic. Now clean up your room and do the dishes," Joyce ordered William before she turned and left.

William fell face first into his pillow with a loud groan.

William furiously stuffed clothes in the washer, blindly cranked the knob, and pressed start. He than went to the kitchen and began to shovel dishes and glasses into the dishwasher, breaking a couple as he went. He poured half the box of Cascade in the dispenser, kicked the door closed, and cranked the knob. "This isn't so hard. Why does mom complain all the bloody time?"

William sat on his bed and stared into space. He eyed the clock. Tick tick tick... he could hear kids playing in the street. He glanced out the window. William saw kids on bikes, neighbors out on walks... ahh... the sights and sounds of summer... And William was not invited. He glared down at his ankle bracelet. It glared right back.

William sat on the floor as he spread a line of Elmer's glue across the bottom of a Twinkie. He'd just completed the first couple of floors of what would be the Twinkie Tower.

William placed a skull sticker on the base of the ankle bracelet. "Oz, you have no idea how much this sodding thing itches. Plus, my mother transformed. She's a dictator now, like the warden from Shawshank. And she took my Xbox. And my iTunes are gone, right? And I can't go anywhere. I'm losing it. I'm losing my bloody mind. Just give me any information, anything at all. What's going on out there?" Oz was his only hope at outside communication. It was noisy; obviously Oz had found himself a party.

"Dude, the chicks here in Oahu rock the houusse! Oh my god, this one is totally showing me her kite board. Belay that, she wasn't pointing at me. Look, Will, I've gotta hop.…" And he disconnected the phone.

"Wait, Oz - Hello?" William tossed the phone aside. "Could have at least told me if there were any hot blokes. Bloody ingrate!"

He sat there in silence for a split second. Then he eyed a racket ball on the floor, picked it up and started mindlessly bouncing it against the wall.

William slowly headed down the stairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen.

William ran into Joyce who wore a black blouse and slacks. "Dinner's on the table. Mary asked if I'd cover for her a couple nights this week. So, I could be kind of late," Joyce explained about her rush. "Do you want to talk about anything?"

William sat at the table, and picked through his food. "I got nothin'," William replied. Right now his life was the most boring thing in the world.

A U-Haul truck came into view. It's backed into the driveway next door. Joyce had told William that they were going to be getting new neighbors. Tony and Jessica Harris. Joyce knew they had a teen themselves but hadn't been told anything about them. Tony appeared from inside the truck's cab, and carried a moving box. He handed it down to his wife, Jessica, who walked back in the house.

William was about to pull his head in when another person came out of the moving truck. He carried a box that's obscured his face as he carefully negotiated the incline of the moving truck's ramp. But his hair was dark brown and his legs were toned and muscular. He looked liked like he could be about seventeen.

The boy reached the end of the ramp and bent over to retrieve another smaller box his back and ass were toward William, who stared in utter disbelief. The new boy stacked the boxes, picked them up and headed into the house, his face still a complete mystery.

William watched him go, mesmerized. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, causing William to yank his head back in and smack it on the underside of the window. He dropped to the floor. "Bloody hell!" He staggered to his feet.

The doorbell continued to ring as William headed down the stairs to the front door. "I'm coming!" William yelled at whoever it was that wouldn't stop with the bell. He swung the door open to see – a burning paper bag on the welcome mat.

Instinct took over and he stomped on it with his socked feet. "Oh shit! Shit water shit!"

Frantically William hopped around, looking for a hose, bucket, anything wet, but the flames were already out. William looked down and finally realized this, but there was another problem… his socks were smothered in slimy dog shit.

William glanced up as the two Greenwood neighborhood brats emerged from their hiding place behind a shrub across the street. They high-fived each other. "What a retard!" brat number one said loudly with a laugh.

With a glare William headed down the steps walking briskly and menacingly toward them. "You think that's funny?" The brats grew concerned and jumped on their bikes and backed away as William drew closer.

"What are you gonna do, kill us like your teacher?" Brat number two asked right before William charged at them.

"Not before I shove my foot and this shit up your arse!" William threatened.

The brats pedaled away and William raced across his yard and down his driveway as he tried to cut the brats off as they made their escape.

The chase was on. William increased his speed. He almost caught up to them. Brat number two turned his head to look at brat number one. "Dude, you said he couldn't leave his house!"

William stopped cold when he heard that. He slowly glanced down at the ankle bracelet and saw the red light flashing. "Shit!"


	5. Chapter 5

Title: House Arrest 5/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Five**

William raced back down the street, his shit-stained feet leaving tracks as he went. He raced by the Harrises and leapt back into his own yard. "Turn green, turn green, turn green..." he yelled at the bracelet all the way.

William looked at the bracelet and it continued to flash red. He hopped up and down hoping that would help. "No, c'mon, I'm way inside, turn green." When that didn't work he began to hop in a circle, and promptly fell on his ass. He then saw the ankle bracelet's light had turned green. "Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

He gazed over; the Harris's each had a moving box in their hands and stood there, jaws dropped. Each took a nervous step backward. Just than the tanned God that William had been trying to get a look at stepped out the front door. He froze at the sight of the shit-and-grass-stained William. William locked eyes with him. Then William did the only he could think of; he smiled and waved. "It's cool, I'm all green."

Just then sirens wailed that made William turn to the street. A police car screeched to a stop. William lost his smile. "No, no, no. Sir? Listen. Officer, listen to me. I wasn't trying to go anywhere." One of the officers got out of the car. William recognized him right away. Officer Gutierrez, William groaned inwardly. "I wasn't trying to leave. There's a bag of shit on my stairs. Two kids just… Honestly, they put a bag of shit on my stairs and they lit it on fire."

"Face down on the ground and put your hands behind your head," Officer Gutierrez ordered. He didn't give William the chance to do as he was told and he pushed William onto his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back.

"Xander, get in the house." Mrs. Harris ordered and pushed her son back through the door.

William's mind shifted back to his neighbors. He had a name!

Jenny was on the phone with William trying to calm the situation. "William, calm down, the officers were probably in the neighborhood already."

William paced as he held the cell phone up to his ear. He had just got out of the shower and was towel drying his hair. "Yeah, but the cop that came, he's my teacher's cousin. They're related. Isn't that a conflict of interest? Are there no other cops that can..."

"William, first times happen. The officers knew that. But next time they will take you to jail," Jenny explained. It wasn't unusual for people who that were under house arrest to step out of bounds. Like she told William the first day, people went stir crazy.

William flipped the phone shut and collapsed to the bed.

The next day William made his way around the yard in bare feet. He took a step and the green light suddenly went out and the red one began to flash. Quickly he pulled back and the green light came back on. With a smile he slammed a garden gnome onto the grass.

William tied a kite string around the gnome's hat, and then un-spooled it across the yard to a waiting croquet mallet that was hammered into the ground. He pulled the string taut and tied it off.

He formed a crude semi-circular arc around the yard tied off at different points using makeshift 'stakes' such as gnomes, mallets, garden shears, screwdrivers.

A short time later William shoved a screwdriver into the ground a few feet shy of his mailbox. He tied some string to it as he glanced over to the other neighbors' (the

Pilches) yard across the street and saw their black Labra-doodle watching him. "Hey pooch, come here..."

The dog trotted toward William. It almost reached the sidewalk when it suddenly got zapped by an underground electric fence. It yelped, spun back around, sat and stared.

William looked down at his ankle bracelet... His own prison. "Yeah, you and me both."

Over William's shoulder Xander lifted more boxes from the back of their station wagon. He set them on the drive and slammed the lift-gate. William turned around and Xander threw him a quick glance and a small smile, and then headed around the back of his house. William stared after him.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: House Arrest 6/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Six**

William's hand fell onto the doorknob of his dad's office. Slowly he turned the knob and he pushed it open. He stood in the doorway, and took a moment to consider what he was about to do. He stepped inside and went to the window; gently he pulled the blind up to reveal Xander's backyard.

He peered down and saw Xander and his mom by the swimming pool. Xander disappeared through the back door. William tilted his head up and curiously gazed curiously through the open windows on the second floor of Xander's house.

William squinted and stepped closer. He saw an unmade bed, stacks of open moving boxes and movie posters that waited to be hung.

Xander walked into the room. He dug through the clothes from the boxes, and stuffed them into dresser drawers. Then he yanked off his t-shirt and Xander pulled out a towel from one of the many boxes and disappeared into the bathroom. William was left to stare at the empty room.

The front door swung open to reveal Oz, DV camera in hand. He wore aviator shades, half a dozen leis and a Hawaiian shirt. "Aloooha Senor Wi- Dude, you look like hell."

William stood in front of Oz with patchy stubble, wearing a bathrobe and a shrunken t-shirt that used to be white but was now light pink. He held his bat in one hand. When William realized who it was he smiled and hugged Oz tight.

William led Oz up the stairs and to the window. "Seriously man, you need some sun," Oz commented.

William looked anxious. "I've got something to show you." He became slightly crazed. "I mean... there's such structure to it, so many layers, but it's invisible if you're not looking close enough..."

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Oz asked looking at his friend like he was nuts.

"The world right outside the window." William gestured out the window. Oz looked out; they peered down to the Pilches backyard. A Ford Escort was in the drive. Besides that, all was quiet.

Oz stared for a moment seeing if he was missing something. When he decided he wasn't he answered, "Fascinating."

William eyed his watch. "Just wait... and... Three... two... one... dog..."

The Pilches dog darted out the back door, then … "Mrs. Pilch saying goodbye to Lonnie..."

"Husband?" Oz questioned still not understanding.

William shook his head excitedly. "Maid."

Mrs. Pilch, who wore an unflattering tennis skirt, exited the house. The dog hopped around her as she waved back to her heavy-set, male maid, Lonnie.

"Four o'clock every Thursday, she goes to the country club to play tennis with Betty Big-Bangs there." William and Oz watched as Mrs. Pilch headed down the walkway met her rail-thin 50-ish female tennis partner at the curb. As they walked away, the dog tried to follow but got zapped by the electric fence and yelped back into the house. "And... ladies disappear... cue white Mercedes... Mr. Pilch, arriving from the office..."

A white Mercedes pulls in the driveway. Mr. Pilch got out carrying a briefcase and flowers.

"Great, that still doesn't explain why you're in a bathrobe at four in the afternoon." Oz stated. "You don't smell so spring fresh either!"

William pulled Oz closer. "Will you just look?"

"Dude, he's gonna see…" Oz started but William cut him off.

"He can't. We don't have any lights on. Plus the angle's sharper from ground level, it only seems like he could see us. I did the math." William explained as he continued to watch his neighbor.

Oz rolled his eyes. "Oh, you did the math."

"Optical illusion, line-of-sight doesn't apply to the subject," William said as if it made complete sense.

"Will…" Oz was really becoming worried about his friend.

Ignoring anything his friend was going to say William kept talking. "Now tilt your gaze up..."

Both of them looked up at the Pilches bedroom window. Lonnie vacuumed as Mr. Pilch entered the room behind him. Mr. Pilch unplugged the vacuum, cutting the power to the vacuum. Lonnie was startled and turned around. He saw Pilch standing there with the flowers and a big smile. Lonnie jumped in Pilches arms, and kissed him passionately.

"DAMN!" Oz yelled and laughed loudly. This was better than the day time television his grandparents loved to watch.

William slapped his hand over Oz's mouth. "C'mon, there's more," William said, wound up.

"What, I go to Maui, you become a stalker?" Oz asked making a mental note to never leave William alone on vacation again.

"No, stalking is for psychos. These are just simple observations... natural side effects of chronic boredom," William said as he headed away knowing Oz would follow.

"Find your passion, Will," Oz pleaded and followed behind

William led Oz to the window in his bedroom. Oz took in the mess in William's room. The scuff marks on the walls and the completed Twinkie Tower. He glanced to the desk and saw a penciled geometric diagram of William's line-of-sight spying theory. Shit, Will wasn't lying… he did do the math.

"So... Fred Michaels..." William started and pointed to the next neighbor on his watchers list.

In the yard across from William's back yard was Fred Michaels, gassing up his lawnmower in the driveway. He was in his early 40's, clean-cut, fit, pretty decent looking. He closed the garage door using a remote, and then fired up the mower; he pushed it around the side of his house toward the front yard.

"He's lived there a couple of years, but I've never noticed he mows his lawn every two days." William said in awe. How could he have never noticed that before?

"Huh, I guess he likes his grass short," Oz commented.

William pointed to the house next to Michaels's. "Here's the little shit baggers I was telling you about, remember?"

"Oh, the ding-dong ditch?" Oz asked, and William nodded. "So what's the plan for the counterattack?"

William shook his head. "I don't know. I'm keeping my options open."

They made their way to Ethan's office. Slowly William pushed on the door and it creaked open. He tilted his head, listening. Then a splash came making William smile.

"What was that?" Oz asked. By the look on William's face it was a new boy crush. Oz followed William to the window.

"Last stop on the tour," William whispered, entranced by the vision in front of him.

Xander swam the length of the pool underwater. He finally surfaced in his dark green swim suit. Water dripped down his tanned skin. He shook his head sending specks of water everywhere.

"Oh- my- God. Who be he?" Oz asked flabbergasted. He was totally straight but he was one to give credit where credit was due. This guy was hot!

They watched as Xander stepped out of the pool, and toweled off. He then lay on the lounge chair, letting the sun dry off the rest of the water that remained on his sun-kissed skin.

"Don't know. Not really… know his name is Xander," William offered pathetically as he leaned his arm against the window sill and stared.

"Dude, what's stopping you?" Oz demanded to know. Never had he seen William so smitten.

William looked down at his ankle but thought about what Oz said.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: House Arrest 7/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Seven**

The next day William was clean-shaven as he sat on the front steps. He eyed his watch, and then stretched his neck. He yawned and saw something. Down the street, Xander's station wagon rounded the corner. With lightning speed William was on his feet, and quickly fixed his hair as the car drew closer.

Casually he strode across his yard, and approached the kite string boundary and mailbox. Then as he kept his feet planted in what looked to be a much practiced maneuver, he suddenly fell forward against the bushes. William reached around with his free hand, opened the mailbox lid, and went to grab the mail inside just as Xander pulled the car into the driveway. He glanced at William who nodded and smiled back.

William tried to push himself upright but he ended pitched forward even more. He glanced back over his shoulder, saw that Xander got out of the car and looked his way. William struggled under his own weight, and tried to keep his feet from crossing the line. He looked back to Xander who was now headed toward him. A slight smile crossed William's face.

"Can I help you?" Xander asked as he looked at Williams' awkward situation.

"Nope, no I'm fine," William said with a shake of the head.

Xander ignored his decline and decided to help anyways. "Too late," he said, hoisting William upright.

"Thanks, that was really humiliating," William said to Xander and was finally able to straighten himself up.

Xander reached in the box, grabbed the mail and handed it over. "Please. I think any pride you had left was gone a while ago."

"Oh, you mean that thing with the cops? They had the wrong guy, total foul up." William tried to sound nonchalant about the situation.

Xander nodded with a polite smile, and started to head away.

William panicked that he was going to lose his only chance to talk to Xander. William called out, "Hey, so… how'd the move go?"

"Still going," Xander replied.

"I'd help, but..." William waved his hand towards the ankle bracelet. "I'm a little spatially challenged at the moment."

Xander walked closer to William to check out his ankle bracelet. "Yeah, you've kinda got the whole Martha Stewart thing going on."

William nodded, "But minus the 48-hour allowance for office visits. I'm not very good at decorating pastries, either. It's not one of my strong suits." William grinned when he got a laugh from Xander. "So where'd you move from?"

"From the city, born and raised. Now..." Xander glanced around with a sigh. "Forcefully relocated."

"That doesn't sound good," William said sympathetically but on the inside he couldn't have been happier.

"Xander? Can you come in here, please?" Jessica asked her son while she eyed William warily.

"My mom… she's very polite, always says 'please' but she's got that tone, did you notice?" Xander asked and pointed back at his mother who was waiting impatiently for her son.

"I know the tone." William replied. His own mother used that tone from time to time.

Xander turned and walked towards his house. "Oh by the way, I'm Xander."

"Noticed that too," William said. "I'm William."

Xander smiled, "I'll see you later, Will." He disappeared inside.

William was in love.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: House Arrest 8/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Eight**

The wind howled outside while William sat on the couch flipping through the channels. Joyce was in the chair asleep.

On the television the evening news was on. Another picture of Patricia Walsh was on the screen. The TV anchor continued the story. "A valet parking attendant says an unidentified person picked up Walsh sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. That individual was driving a blue 1960s Ford Mustang, which may have been dented on the left side. Police have released a surveillance tape confirming the eyewitness account. But now, in the newest development, sources close to the investigation say a review of the entire tape..."

William clicked the TV off and looked over to Joyce. William's watch alarm suddenly beeped. Quietly he got up, grabbed the blanket off the sofa, and covered his mother up. He then picked up his soda and bowl of popcorn from the coffee table and headed out of the living room.

William emerged from the shadows as he entered his dad's office. Quietly he pulled his dad's leather chair toward the window, positioned it just right, and then sat.

Xander was working out to a yoga DVD. William always thought it was stupid for a guy to do yoga but ever since he first saw Xander doing it he changed his mind. "You started without me?" William asked quietly to Xander. As if eerily on cue, Xander suddenly stopped. "What are you stopping for?"

Xander went to his window and peered out.

William ducked. He looked back up and saw Xander gazing in his direction. William's breathing intensified. Could he actually see him? "No, you can't see me. It's too dark in here," William said as he tried to convince himself.

Xander turned around and went back to his yoga mat. He took a breath, got back in "the zone", then he slowly raised his arms and bent into a ridiculously sexy pose.

"Whoa," William breathed and leaned in. He watched Xander another couple of minutes before his dad appeared in the doorway, looking pissed. William leaned in even further.

Xander stopped the DVD. From his body language, he was clearly annoyed at the interruption. The scene quickly devolved into a heated argument. But Xander's dad got the last word in and left. Xander slammed the door behind him, flipped off the TV, fell on to his bed, and stared off at the ceiling. William instinctively lowered himself in the chair but his eyes never left Xander.

William snapped awake breathing hard from a bad dream. He sat up and peered across to Xander's windows. It was dark and the shades were down. With a sigh William pulled himself out of the chair and stumbled back to his own room.

When he walked into his room William grabbed his PSP and fell back to the bed. As he started playing, headlight beams appeared lighting up his room. He glanced out the window.

A blue Mustang pulled into the neighbor's driveway. William went back to the PSP and then suddenly stopped. A Mustang? William hopped off his bed and headed to the window. He watched as Michaels got out of his car, leaving the car running as he headed inside the house.

A moment later, the main garage door rose up. Michaels reappeared, ducked underneath, and headed back to the Mustang, and got in. He maneuvered the car into the garage beside his silver Toyota. The front end of the car swung around, revealing a bashed-in left front fender.

"Holy shit." A dent - William raced to his closet, pulled down a pair of binoculars, and headed back to the window.

With the binoculars he could see the garage; Michaels was already out of the car, rounding the back as the garage door lowered. William crouched and tried to see under the closing door. He only caught a glimpse of Michaels as he popped the trunk open.

Unexpectedly a hand landed on William's shoulder. William screamed, whipped around startling Joyce, who screamed as well.

"Bloody hell mum!" "Christ, William!" They said at the same time.

Joyce laid a hand on her chest. "I'm sorry. I thought you heard me."

"No, I didn't hear you." William's heart was still beating hard.

"What are you doing?" Joyce asked and looked out the window.

William hid the binoculars behind his back. "Just staring out the window looking at the wind. You know, getting creative." He laughed a little.

It didn't look like she completely believed him. "Well, I just wanted to say good night."

"Good night mum." When she left his room he shook his head. William turned back to the window, and stared out at Michaels's house. The lights went out.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: House Arrest 9/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Nine**

The next morning William was out in his front yard in a t-shirt and his boxers to get the morning newspaper. He looked over to see Michaels mowing his lawn again. Silently William stomach crawled over to the fence and watched Michaels as he continued to mow his lawn.

When he came back into view for William, he stopped his lawn mower and started his way towards the fence. "Hey. What are you doing?" He knelt down.

William shrunk back hoping to hide himself. He couldn't believe he had been caught. How was he supposed to explain this?

"What are you doing?" Michaels asked and leaned in closer staring straight ahead. "Looking at my garden? Is that it? Are you looking at my beautiful garden?" His hand reached out. "Well, I caught you now. I got you." He pulled his hand back with a grip on the back of a brown and white rabbit's neck. "Yeah, you're not gonna dig in my garden anymore."

William rested his forehead against his arms. He let out a sigh of relief.

The next day William sat in his father's leather chair, binoculars raised to his eyes. On the floor next to him was a 7-11 bag, a Slurpee cup, a bag of beef jerky and an automotive magazine with a Mustang on the cover.

Xander sat on the roof leaning against his closed window. He was reading _Misery_ by Stephen King.

Oz sat at William's father's computer desk as he read the computer screen. "There's nothing about missing bunnies but listen to this. Now the cops are saying that the circumstances surrounding the girl's disappearance are similar to several murder-kidnappings in Austin three years ago. All of them redheads. They didn't catch the guy, but they found seven chicks' bodies in a house a year after the alleged killer abandoned the property. No leads, no way of IDing whoever lived there, 'cause he used a fake name, and probably a PO box, 'cause no mail was ever delivered to the house." Oz looked at William. "So you don't know what year the Mustang is?"

"Either a '65 or '66, couldn't tell." William processed what Oz had just told him. A car door slammed suddenly. Binoculars back at his eyes William looked down just as Jessica backed out the driveway. He then tilted up to Xander's window just as Xander ducked back inside his room and disappeared again.

With a frown William tilted his binoculars down to the pool. Xander emerged from the house with a towel that he threw on to the lounge chair.

"Better late than never," William muttered to himself.

Oz joined William at the window. Looking at Xander was better than looking for a psycho murderer… especially when William wasn't even helping.

Xander kicked his sandals off and pulled his t-shirt off to reveal his bronzed back. This time he wore a red pair of swim trunks. They clung to his ass and gave both William and Oz a nice view.

"That's definitely new," William stated.

Xander crouched down and ran his fingers through the water. He cupped his hands, scooped a handful of water from the pool, and splashed his face. He ran his hands through his hair. Standing, he took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled. He stretched his arms high above his head.

"Concentrate now. This is for the gold," Oz said he couldn't help but get a little turned on. God, he needed a girlfriend! He grabbed the binoculars from William; he put them to his eyes and moved closer to the window, but his zoomed-in vision caused him to underestimate the distance…thwump! The end of the binoculars hit the window just as Xander dove into the pool. Oz and William hit the deck as they heard the splash.

"Arsehole," William hissed at Oz. "You are a genuine arsehole."

"Dude, there's no way he heard that." Oz tried to convince his friend.

"Bollocks, my deaf aunt in London heard that." William shot Oz a glare and turned to look out the window. Xander was underwater at the far end of the pool. He tucked and pushed off the wall and swam back.

Oz peered out, "He's got great lung capacity."

Xander suddenly surfaced and hoisted himself from the water. He spun and sat on the ledge and shook his hair free of water. But he suddenly stopped and shifted his gaze up toward William and Oz.

William pulled Oz back down on the floor. "I think he saw me…"

"There's no way…" Oz looked back as Xander got out of the pool. Again Xander stopped and looked up. Oz ducked down again. "Okay, maybe he did."

"Seriously?" William asked in a panic.

They both watched as Xander slipped on his shirt. He headed to the back door and tried the knob. It was locked.

"His swims always that short?" Oz questioned.

William grew concerned. "No, he usually takes his time. They turned back and Xander was gone.

"Now where is he?" Oz asked and looked around the backyard.

The doorbell rang. William and Oz froze.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: House Arrest 10/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Ten**

"No!" William whispered

"No!" Oz repeated.

Quietly William and Oz made their way down the stairs. They tried to look from a far distance to see who was at the door. William slowly began to approach the door. Oz suddenly pulled William back. "Don't, it could be him!"

William scoffed, "It's not gonna be him."

"Then stop! Just… let 'em go away," Oz told him

The doorbell rang again and William headed to the door. "I have too." William peeped through the peephole. Calmly he turned to Oz.

Oz flailed around, "What! What? Speak!"

"It's him," William said gravely.

"You're full of…" Oz tip-toed to the door. One look at Xander and he covered his mouth, grabbed William and pulled him back. "Shit! Shit! Oh my shit!"

In a panicked whisper William said, "He totally saw us."

The doorbell rang again. William headed to the door again.

"We are so busted. Don't answer it!" Oz tried to convince William one more time.

"He knows I'm here." William pointed to the bracelet on his ankle. "I got the thing on my bloody foot!"

William swung the door open. Xander stood there, his arms folded. "What took you so long?" he asked eyeing Oz. "The house isn't that big."

"Yeah, no, we were playing upstairs," William answered.

Oz cringed at how that sounded. Xander's eyebrow went up. "Video games!" Oz intercepted.

William stood there awkwardly. "So... what brings you here? To my house?"

"Oh. I got locked out," Xander explained while staring at William.

"Do… you need to call anyone?" William asked and realized how lame that sounded.

Xander shook his head, "Thanks, but I'd rather stay stranded if you don't mind."

William and Oz traded glances.

"So can I come in or not?" Xander asked with a slight smile.

"Uh, sure, come on in." William and Oz stepped aside.

Xander stepped inside, and glanced around to check out the place.

"That's Oz," William introduced to Xander.

"Nice to meet you. Video games, huh?" Xander looked at William and said suggestively. "I like to play."

William traded a look with Oz as Xander nonchalantly headed up the stairs. "Excuse me," William said as he jogged to catch up.

Xander barged into William's bedroom, instantly struck by the mess. William pushed past him, started to grab underwear and garbage off the floor. "It's a little messy."

"A little?" Xander laughed and looked around.

William continued to gather clothes, and tossed them to Oz who tossed them in the closet.

Xander picked up the binoculars from the window sill and peered outside. "Anything interesting out there?"

William and Oz exchanged looks. Xander turned around binoculars still raised, and he aimed them like a gun at William. "Are you spying on the neighbors, Will?"

William froze.

"Actually, he is," Oz stated, when he saw William's eyes widen in fear he continued. "See, he has this neighbor… who I guess by definition would also be your neighbor - who may, in point of fact, be a cold-blooded killer," Oz explained as if it was a normal everyday thing.

"Is that so?" Xander asked and continued to look at William.

Oz pointed out the window to Michaels's house. "Exhibit A, Fred Michaels."

"Yeah, I've seen him. So?" Xander looked confused.

"So you hear about that missing girl from Madison?" William asked.

Xander realized what they were talking about and pointed to Michaels's house. "What, you think he…"

"He drives a car like the one she was last seen in," William explained.

"Blue Mustang," Oz added.

"60's era Mustang." William added a little more detail.

"Gee, that really narrows it down," Xander replied sarcastically.

William rushed on, "They said it was dented. He has a bashed-in fender."

"It's cohesive," Oz said and stuck his hands together as if that clarified it all.

"So this is why… you're…" Xander looked down at the binoculars in his hands.

Suddenly William saw something out the window and ripped the binoculars out of Xander's hand and went to the window.

"What?" Oz asked and jumped up and down.

Michaels pulled the blue Mustang out of the garage and down the driveway.

Xander suddenly grabbed the binoculars back from William and peered out.

"Hey!" William scowled at Xander.

"So that's the infamous blue Mustang, huh?" Xander said and continued to stare out the window.

"Yeah…"

"Okay. I am seeing the Mustang. But no bashed-in fender," Xander commented on.

William grabbed the binoculars back once again. "What? Yeah, no, it's there. It's there."

Sure enough, the Mustang no longer had a bashed in fender. The garage door started to close.

"How'd he fix it so fast?" William whispered.

"Because it was never there in the first place?" Xander guessed.

William eyed Xander. Shit, could he have imagined it?

Xander playfully grabbed the binoculars back from William. Xander looked into the garage. "He collects skulls!"

"What? Here, let me see." Once again William snatched the binoculars back, "Are you bloody serious?" He took a quick look and turned to Oz. "That's a longhorn skull. You know what state's famous for longhorns."

"Austin, Texas. The Texas Longhorns," Oz threw in.

William and Oz eyed Xander as if to say "see?"

Xander eyed them right back. "Okay, fine, stakeout." He took the binoculars back and made himself comfortable on the chair. "Who's on my shift?"

William immediately raised his hand.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: House Arrest 11/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Eleven**

Oz dumped a box of spy gear onto William's bed. Another DV camera, an old, bulky VHS camera, a black and white portable TV, couple of tri-pods, walkie talkies, and wires that were tangled into a real mess. "This is all the stuff I could find. Got most of it off of my uncle, he's a type-A sociopath."

Xander sat at William's computer as William anxiously sifted through Oz's stuff.

"Do you know how long Michaels has lived there?" Xander asked. If he was going to play investigator he needed to be caught up.

William looked up from the equipment. "About two or three years."

"So he could've lived in Texas..." Xander commented and looked back to the computer screen. "Hey, check this out. The victims they found in Texas were preserved, delaying their decomposition. This guy was so sick. They say their bodies were twisted and jammed into the basement walls. Gnarly." Xander pointed to the screen. "This girl died from blunt trauma, most likely blows to the head and face." He turned and looked at Oz and William. "I'm hungry. Let's order pizza."

The two tri-pod-mounted DV cams stood watch over Michaels's house. One camera feed was a grainy close-up shot of Michaels's garage door to Oz's portable TV on the floor. The other feeds were a wide shot of Michaels's entire house to William's color TV. Both images appeared on William's computer monitor.

William sat in his chair while Xander sat on the floor near the window. William peered over to Michaels's with the binoculars while Xander messed with William's cell phone

Oz was passed out on William's bed, his hand rested inside the pizza box just inches from the last slice.

"He's been gone awhile," William said talking about Michaels.

Xander continued to mess with William's cell phone. "Here." He handed back the phone.

"How'd you get my phone?" William asked and took his phone back. "That's a big violation of privacy, you know. This is... I could turn you in for this. What did you do?

I know you did something," he threatened as he looked at every angle of his phone.

"I'm crafty like that," Xander replied with a sly smile and moved over to Oz.

William continued to eye his phone. "What'd you do?"

Carefully Xander unclipped Oz's cell from his hip, flipped it open and dialed. Seconds later, William's cell rang with Madonna's '_Like a Virgin_.' "Every time he calls, that's what you'll hear."

William laughed as Xander delicately re-clipped the phone to Oz's belt. "So why'd you move here?"

Xander remained silent and made William think he wasn't going to answer. He locked eyes with William. He said matter-of-factly, "Well, I guess my mom thought it'd help keep dad on a shorter leash. City life... had its temptations... But my mom pretty much cries just as much as she always did, and dad doesn't care - more than ever," Xander said with a sad tone in his voice.

"What'd they think, the extra bathroom would help? Maybe a two-car garage. 'You know what, honey? Infidelity, forget about it. Look at the storage space!'" William asked with a raise of his dark eyebrow and a wave of his hand.

Xander held William's gaze, and then he nodded. "Something like that." He looked at the bracelet that was wrapped around Williams's ankle. "So... what're your issues, Will?"

William hesitated. "What makes you think I have issues?"

"Gee, I wonder." Xander said sarcastically and tapped the bracelet.

Headlights appeared outside and William was saved by the bell… or possibly serial killer. Quickly he turned away from Xander, pulled one of the DV cams off its tri-pod, and flipped out the three-inch LCD screen. "That's him," William clarified to Xander. On the DV cam, Michaels's blue Mustang pulled in the driveway. Michaels stopped and the engine and the headlights turned off.

"Another car," Xander said pointing to the second car on the screen.

William zoomed in; the grainy image finally steadied to reveal a second car that pulled in behind Michaels. A thirty-something attractive woman, a redhead was at the wheel.

She pulled in next to Michaels's car.

"You see her before?" Xander whispered.

"No," William whispered back. He moved closer to Xander to get a better look at the woman.

Michaels got out of the car. He wore a suit, no tie.

"Cute for a killer," Xander commented off handedly and missed William's shocked look. Michaels went to the woman's car and opened her door. The woman got out; she wore a black cocktail dress. "There's a club girl for you."

"How do you know?" William asked not seeing anything that would give that impression.

"The bright green bracelet is from 'The Place'. The red one is from 'The Komodo Club' and yellow is from 'Razors'," Xander explained.

William zoomed in on the woman's wrist and hand. Sure enough, she wore green, red and yellow bracelets. "The missing girl was last seen at a club. Didn't say which one though..." He stole a glance at Xander. "Your I.D. must be pretty good."

"I don't need one." Xander replied with a smirk.

They turned back to the window and watched as Fred escorted the woman to the house and showed her in. A light came on inside.

William zoomed in on one of the living room windows; he spotted the woman moving around inside and looking at artwork. She sat on the sofa when Michaels entered with two glasses and a bottle of wine. He sat down and poured the wine. They toasted, and each took a sip. Michaels moved in for a kiss.

"He's going in," William said then watched as the woman shied away from Michaels', and stood up from the sofa.

Xander laughed, "Denied..." They watched as the woman got up, moved away. "Look at the look on his face."

They watched the woman move to the stereo system, the music started and she seductively moved her body to the beat they couldn't hear. "What do you think they're listening to?" William asked. He knew if he had been straight he would be half hard by now.

"It could be the radio. See if you can find the station," Xander suggested as he continued to watch.

William set the camera down and turned on his radio. As he toggled through radio stations - Rock, Alternative...

Xander continued to watch the couple. "No and no."

William flipped to an easy listening R & B station that played Lou Rawls _You'll Never Find_.

"Stop." Xander watched as Michaels took the woman's hand and danced with her. Their rhythm fit the music perfectly. He began to move his hips suggestively to the music as he watched the couple.

Oz stirred on the bed, but still slept on. His eyes remained closed but a smile played on his lips. "Hmmm..."

William and Xander eyed Oz, then turned back to the window. William panned the camera back to the woman and Michaels. They were really dancing close now. Xander's and William's eyes shifted to each other, and then quickly flicked away. Xander raised the binoculars, faced back toward Michaels. "Now's the time to bust your move."

Xander glanced towards William, who turned and held his gaze. An obvious tension between the two. They ever so slowly leaned toward each other when Oz interrupted.

Oz yawned and stretched, "Who's that?" He looked to William and Xander who just glared back. A light bulb lit up over his head. "Okay, just fill me in later." Oz shook Xander's hand. "A pleasure." Than he slapped William's hand and mouthed 'Dude!' "Later." Oz suddenly stood and left quickly.

William shook his head and turned back to Xander. They lean in once again when -Xander's cell phone ominously rung with the first measure of _Beethoven's Fifth_ - "BUM BUM BUM BUMMMMM." He pulled the cell from his pocket and saw William's confused looked at the ring tone. "It's my mom, she loves Beethoven," he explained and flicked open his cell. "Hi. No, I'm fine," Xander said with a smile. "I'm at Barnes and Noble." "Okay, I'm leaving." "No, I'll walk." He flipped his phone shut without as much as a goodbye. Xander joined William who still watched the LCD screen.

As the mystery woman continued to dance Michaels came up from behind her… a knife. "Oh my God!" William said and they both watched in horror as Michaels… cut off the price tag from the redhead's dress. William let out a sigh of relief.

"She won't be returning that dress," Xander commented with a nervous laugh. They watched as she laughed, embarrassed, and let Michaels lead her out of the living room probably into his bedroom. "Shifts over, got to go."

William and Xander crossed the yard to William's kite string boundary.

"Looks like this is as far as you go," Xander told William.

"Looks like," William said disappointment clearly in his voice.

They peered into each other's eyes. "Y'know, I have to admit, you're different than I expected."

"What were you expecting?" William asked as he wondered if it was a good or bad thing.

"I thought you'd be more messed up," Xander replied bluntly.

William cracked a smile. "Does that disappoint you? 'Cause I can be more messed up if you want me to."

"No, you're fine," Xander assured him

"Fine?"

"Yeah," Xander confirmed.

"Fine like your first cousin 'fine' or 'fine' in kind of a George Clooney sorta way?"

Xander simply smiled. "I should go in." He made his way to the door step.

"Hey!" William shouted and made Xander turn back. "Do you really think he's cute?

"Yeah… but you're cuter," Xander declared and with a wave of his hand he slipped into his house.

Exhilarated, William slammed through the office door, binoculars in hand. He went to his chair, sat and took position. He watched as Xander walked in to his bedroom and headed straight for the window and drew the blinds.

William slumped. "Damn."


	12. Chapter 12

Title: House Arrest 12/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Twelve **

William was jerked awake by something. His eyes popped open and he looked around. Did he hear something or did he dream it? He pulled himself out of the chair and made his way to the door; very slowly he swung it open.

Cautiously William stepped into the hall. "Mum?" No answer. He headed back to his own room. Across the street, William spotted the Greenwood kids that played ding dong ditch and brought his binoculars up to his eyes. "I'll get back at you." William noticed that they were watching porn on their bedroom television. A naked woman massaged her breasts. "Hello, boys. Family fun night. Okay. I see what's going on." William spotted the kids' mom coming toward their room. "Oh, Jesus. You guys are screwed now." The boys somehow sensed that she was there, turned off the television and jumped into their beds. Their mother walked in. William couldn't tell what was being said so he made up his own dialogue. "'We're just watching cartoons.' 'Oh, okay, sweetie. I understand. You guys are growing boys.' Come on, Mom." William scoffed when she left the room and the boys jumped from their beds and turned the television back on. "Bastards. Wow, they are horny as shit."

"Help!" William heard the cry and moved to look at Michaels's house. He saw the woman from the club at the window and she began to bang on it while she continued to scream.

When William saw Michaels he dropped the binoculars and grabbed the DV cam. He fumbled with it, and flipped open the LCD screen but as he pressed the power button, the camera's lamp suddenly ignited, and momentarily lighted up his room.

He spun and hit the floor, frantically trying to find the switch and turned off the lamp. "Dumb ass, dumb ass!" He stayed on the floor, slouched under the window sill for a couple of minutes. He tried to angle the camera screen so he could see what was happening but was unable to.

Quickly William traded the grainy DV cam for the binoculars. He looked towards the lower floor windows of Michaels's house that was now eerily still house. He tilted up to the second floor looking into each window. Again there was nothing.

"Okay, so where is she?" He did another search of each window. When he came to the last one he saw Michaels staring right back at him.

William spun and dove to the floor and knocked the other camera and tri-pod over. "Oh shit, oh shit." He shoved himself against the wall, frozen in terror. He didn't dare to get up. He spotted his cell phone on the floor just a few feet away. Swiftly he extended his leg out, using his foot to slowly slide the phone toward him. With a trembling hand he reached for the phone and picked it up. Just before he was about to flip it open the phone's LCD screen suddenly lit up and blared out _Like a Virgin_. William was startled, and fumbled with the phone and realized it was Oz. He flipped the phone open. "Oz…"

Oz didn't let him finish his sentence. "Dude, Xander is ho-ho-hotttt… seriously if I swung that way you'd have some competition!"

"Michaels totally busted me." As much as he would have loved to talk about Xander he needed to talk about what he saw.

"What do you mean? Are you sure?" Oz asked concern filled his voice.

"And the redhead who was at his house okay?" William broke off. "He chased her around the house, and it got dark, he turned the lights out. I mean, I don't know what I saw. I saw... Well, what if he killed her? I mean..." A door suddenly slammed. "Wait…"

"What?"

"A door just slammed," William informed Oz.

In his best sinister 'Scream' voice Oz said, "That's right, William, and now I'm coming up to slash your guts out, you little bastard!"

"Berk, I'm serious," William scowled even though Oz couldn't see it.

"I'm not and I'm hanging up."

"Just - wait - wait till I check the hall." William begged as he grabbed his bat, slowly approached his door. Oz yawned and began to snore. William's hand was about to grabbed the knob.

"BOO!" Oz screamed into the receiver.

William jumped and let out a scream of his own, "Goddamn you!" He flipped the phone closed and threw it on to the bed. He heard Michaels's front door slam shut and he rushed over and saw the redhead walk over to her car, open the door, get in, start the ignition and take off down the driveway.

With a deep breath he turned back to the door just as it was suddenly pushed open, smacking William in the forehead. He stumbled back and screamed again yet again as he raised the bat up over his head.

"Will! William, it's me!" Joyce said and she brought her hands up to protect herself in case he still swung.

He didn't immediately drop the bat as he focused on Joyce. She was dressed in her a black skirt, white blouse and black coat, barely visible in the darkness. She flipped the light on.

"No, don't!" William cried out.

"What's going on, who were you talking to?" Joyce eyed him suspiciously.

William looked back to his phone. "Oz. Just Oz." He fell backwards onto his bed. "I heard the door."

"I'm sorry, the wind caught it," Joyce apologized.

"Fine. Good. Okay." William took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.

Joyce caught her own breath. "You want anything from the grocery? I'm going in the morning."

"Yeah I think I could use some Red Bull." He was gonna need that caffeine in the morning. There was no doubt he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. What the hell happened over at Michaels's place?


	13. Chapter 13

Title: House Arrest 13/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Thirteen**

The next morning a groggy William trudged down the stairs. He entered the kitchen and noticed a few full grocery bags on the counter and the coffee maker brewing. He ignored the fact that they needed to be put away. His stomach was growling and it had his full attention.

William opened the refrigerator door and grabbed some cream cheese. When he closed it he jumped back when he saw Michaels standing only a few feet away from him. William backed away and around the island and picked up a knife with a red handle.

"Whoa, whoa, settle down, slow down. I'm Fred Michaels, your neighbor…" Michaels gestured outside.

"I know. How did you…" William stopped when Joyce came through the door with more grocery bags.

Michaels looked back at Joyce. "Think I startled him."

Joyce laughed, "Oh. Will, I ran into Mr. Michaels at…"

"Fred," Michaels intervened.

Joyce smiled, "...At the grocery. I had a flat tire when I came out. We tried to change it, but …"

"Dad put those security bolts on…" William reminded her.

"And that adapter thingy that unscrews it ended up stripping it instead," Joyce continued.

"My fault," Michaels told William.

Joyce shook her head in disagreement. "No, it wasn't. You saved my life." She turned back to William. "We had it towed to Frank's."

"Gee, really lucky you were there." William said with attitude.

"Just glad I could help." Fred ignored the way William spoke. He began to talk to Joyce again. "It must be a little difficult when the man of the house is stuck in the house."

There was an awkward silence as William's eyes instinctively glanced down to the ankle bracelet.

"Oh... no, it's okay, we're managing," Joyce replied.

Michaels stepped closer to William; he bent down to get a closer look at the ankle bracelet. "I've always been curious about those things, do you mind?"

"Yeah, I do," William took a step back.

"William, be polite," Joyce scolded him. "I'm sorry about that, Fred."

Michaels shook his head and took no offense, "No, no. It's none of my business."

"Damn right." William cursed and glared at Michaels.

Michaels brought his hands up and looked innocent. "Whoa, hey, dude... you seem like a straight hitter. You ask me, whoever they are deserved it."

"I popped my Spanish teacher." William told Michaels trying to sound menacing.

"Shoot, the milk's still in the car," Joyce said before she ducked out of the house clearly embarrassed.

Michaels turned to William. An awkward silence between them. "So when you say you 'popped' your teacher…" Michaels started and looked intrigued.

"I punched him in the face," William replied though he still wished he had done more.

Michaels let out a chuckle. "Phew, just making sure I wasn't living next to some psycho killer. Listen, I get it though. I had plenty of teachers I wanted to just... kill." He quickly adjusted his tone when Joyce came back in with the last grocery bag. "But no matter how hard it is to hold back, the high road is always the better choice."

"Fred, would you like to stay for coffee? It's the least I could do after you helped me after all," Joyce invited and ignored William's protest.

With a glance to William, Michaels smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."

William let out an annoyed huff and left to go back to his room. He paused when Michaels spoke again. "It was nice finally meeting you." William's appetite had disappeared.


	14. Chapter 14

Title: House Arrest 14/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Fourteen**

"Oooh. That's creepy," Xander said after William told him about the incident the day before. He sat on William's bed, much to William's delight.

"I know, he's a total freak, right?" William replied and sat beside Xander.

Xander nodded slightly, "And very vague... did he genuinely mean it was nice meeting you or was he sending you a sinister message?"

"Are you messing with me?" William asked and looked slightly confused.

"Maybe a little," Xander replied with a smile.

William smiled back. He loved to see Xander smile. "So you think it's all a coincidence.

We've got the car…"

"With no dent," Xander pointed out.

He ignored that and continued. "The longhorns' skull, the girl from the club, who looked really freaked out. Then he challenges me, stares at me, and now he's showing up in my kitchen."

"Why, you think he slashed your mom's tire?" Xander questioned.

"Maybe," William knew he sounded paranoid but there was just something wrong with this guy.

Xander rolled his eyes and stood. "I got to go."

"You're leaving?" William asked, disappointed. Maybe he shouldn't have continued to talk about his neighbor. Of course Xander would get bored of the same conversation over and over again.

"Have to. Party," Xander disclosed.

"Whose?" William asked.

Xander looked uncomfortable, "Uh… mine."

"How is that possible?" William asked realizing how stupid that sounded.

"Excuse me?" Xander's eyes narrowed slightly.

William back tracked a bit. "Well, I mean... Sorry, I just didn't think you knew anybody."

"I don't, I didn't …" He noticed William's confusion. "I met this guy earlier, Liam O'Connor?

"Oh my god, 'Peaches'? I sat next to that git in Spanish." William hated Liam; he was a jock and thought he was better than everyone else… especially William.

A slight smirk played on Xander's lips at the nickname, "I told him my parents were out of town. And one thing led to another. He called somebody, and then they called somebody, and now…"

"And now the whole neighborhood's coming… except me," William concluded.

"Look, I'm stuck here. So I figured I can either shut myself in and keep hating it or... try to make the most of it," Xander tried to explain.

William waved him off and stood, "Hey, I get it. You don't have to explain."

"William, you're welcome to come, but…" The both looked down at the offending bracelet. William really hated it.

"Well, I appreciate the thought. Really," William replied with attitude.

Xander returned it right back, "Glad to hear it." He stood and made his way to the door.

"I just didn't think you would conform so bloody fast but..." William knew he wasn't being fair. But it wasn't fair to him either.

With a furious glare Xander picked up the DV cam and binoculars, approached William and handed them over. "Try to keep these in your drawers tonight, will ya?" He stormed out and left a sullen William to stare after him.


	15. Chapter 15

Title: House Arrest 15/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Fifteen**

William sat in the dark at his dad's desk. He was on the phone, pressing his other finger to his ear, and trying to drown out the noise that originated from Xander's party next door. Oz's voice mail picked up. "This is Oz, leave a message." He slammed the phone down onto the desk.

A roar of laughter made William jumped from his chair. He grabbed the binoculars and headed to the window. Xander might have told him not to spy on the party but that didn't mean he agreed. He scanned the crowd until he found Xander; Xander was talking with a group of partygoers. As he pretended to listen to one of the guys' stories he furtively glanced toward William's window. But it was quick; William couldn't be a hundred percent sure if it had been on purpose or not.

"Wait, what was that? You think I'm watching? Well, I'm not... Nope, I am minding my own bloody business..." William lied to himself.

He watched as Xander excused himself from the group and approached the drink and food table where Liam (a.k.a "Peaches") stood, as he nitpicking over his snack choices. Xander hugged him his eyes flickered up to William.

"You think I'm buying that?" William continued to watch as he wished it was him Xander hugged. "I'm not biting…"

Xander glanced up in William's direction again. It was more obvious this time as he kept hugging Liam.

"That's it," William said as he gritted his teeth. He tossed the binoculars down and headed out.

A short time later William slammed a ladder up against the side of the house. Carefully he carried a speaker up to the roof before slamming the speaker down on the edge of the roof that faced Xander's house. He made sure the speaker wires were securely clamped in place, and then unwound the roll of wire back across the roof toward the ladder.

William ran the wire down the hall and into his dad's office. He connected the wire to the bookshelf amplifier, and cranked the volume control knob. His thumb hovered over the play button of his iPod. One more look at the party and William pressed play. The speaker exploded with the roar of Barry Manilow's _Mandy_.

Xander's party came to a grinding halt, except for Liam who was swaying slightly as he mouthed the words along with Manilow.

William saw Xander glare up at him, fire in his eyes as he stormed out of sight. William smiled with perverse satisfaction as he tilted his head and anticipated the doorbell ringing. He had to admit Xander looked hot when he was pissed.

Not even two minutes later the doorbell rang and William descended down the stairs. He maintained his wicked grin. He opened the door for Xander, but instead he was pelted with a storm of water balloons.

William stood there, frozen as the Greenwood brats from across the street jumped from the bushes; they laughed and raced away into the shadows. He was about to attempt to pursue them when the sound of a door opening stopped him cold. He spun around to see Xander storm in from the kitchen and march up the stairs.

"Hey!" William called after him and raced up the stairs after him.

Xander increased his speed. He stormed down the hall and saw that the speaker wires ran into William's dad's office. He slammed through the door, spotted William's iPod, and ripped it out of its dock. The music stopped. Spinning around, Xander ran smack into William who swiped the iPod out of his hand and slammed it back in the dock. The music blared once again.

Xander moved in, but William blocked his path. Xander tried to get around him but William stood firm. Xander peered out the window; his eyes widened. "Oh my God…"

William fell for it; he looked. Xander shoved him out of the way and grabbed the iPod. William glared as Xander bolted down the hallway and into William's bedroom.

When William caught up to Xander he had his hand that held the iPod out the window that held onto the I-Pod. William stopped in his tracks.

"Back off or I'll throw it where you can't follow." Xander threatened and leaned over the window more.

"Bloody hell; take it easy, that's sixty gigs of my life," William let out a small whimper.

Xander grinned, "Even better."

"Okay… okay." William backed away slightly.

"What are you doing?" Xander demanded to know.

"What are you doing?" William repeated the question.

Xander glared at William, "I'm trying to enjoy my party. Wait, that's wrong. According to you, I'm trying to conform."

"Coulda fooled me," William muttered loud enough for Xander to hear.

Xander frowned, "What does that mean?"

"Forget…"

"No, I'm not going to forget it." Xander crossed his arms and made sure he had the iPod tucked tight against his chest.

William pointed an accusing finger. "You wanna blend in with that crowd, fine, but stop looking up and trying to get a bloody rise outta me."

Xander's eyes widened, "So you were watching me. Question is for how long? Just tonight? Or maybe a week? Two weeks? Since I moved in?" William tried to respond, but Xander kept pressing. "And the whole 'my-neighbor's-the-killer' thing. Great cover…"

"It's not a cover," William replied insulted that Xander thought he would lie about something like that.

Xander glanced around. "So what is it, Will? Huh? What else have you seen?"

"What else have I seen?" William asked and wondered how much he should tell.

"Yeah. What else?"

"Okay - I've seen you're the only one in the world who eats pizza-Flavored Pringles. You're also the first person I've ever seen who spends more time on their roof than in their own house. And what do you do out there? You read books. Now one would think with the whole numbers thing you've got going on that you'd put them on your shelf alphabetically, but you don't. Your system's much more perfect. The ones you like go on the bottom, the ones you love go in the middle, and the ones you need, the ones you keep going back to... well they go straight to the top next to the dream encyclopedia. You know what all this tells me? You know how things should be, 'The world according to Xander.' And guess what? It's a very entertaining and beautiful thing, even when it takes a hit. When you end up in a place like this... when your parents dump their baggage on you, or just... when it seems like those curveballs are never gonna stop. It sucks, but just so you know… I get it." William took a deep breath from his ramble. He sounded like an idiot, he knew that, but he wasn't finished. Xander wanted to know so he'd tell him.

"But I've also seen those designer window shades of yours, and guess what? They always go up the next day - no matter what. And even if no one else has, I've noticed that. And I'm not bloody sorry. The only thing I'll even consider apologizing for is... not dropping the binoculars and telling you this a lot sooner."

Xander stared into William's eyes before he stepped closer, "That was either the creepiest... or the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

William leaned in and kissed Xander. They pulled away and locked eyes. Xander pulled William by his soaking wet t-shirt and kissed him back even harder. They stumbled back toward the bed.

"Remember the other night? When we talked about my issues?" William asked in between kisses.

"You said you didn't have any issues," Xander replied and tilted his head back and let William kiss his neck.

"Did I? That was bullshit. I got a million issues." William sucked on Xander's neck.

Xander gasped and let out a strangled laugh, "For a guy who killed his teacher?"

"I didn't kill my teacher," William whispered before he started kissing Xander again

Xander's hands pulled William closer as they continued. His eyebrows furrowed when he heard loud banging coming from across the street. "Will…" Xander pushed William off and made his way to the window. He gazed at a window that was lit up; something was smeared on the glass. Looking around quickly for the binoculars that were nowhere to be seen, he leaned forward to get a better look, "Holy shit."

"What is it?" William asked and looked over Xander's shoulders.

"Red smears." Xander whispered.

"Blood?" They ducked down when Michaels opened the side door and dragged out a blue plastic tarp that was tied up. A blue tarp that was covered in blood. Michaels opened his garage door and he and the tarp disappeared underneath it.

Xander looked at William with wide eyes. "What should we do?"


	16. Chapter 16

Title: House Arrest 16/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Sixteen**

"I can't believe you want me to break into this guy's car," Oz said over his phone as he dashed across from William, a red backpack hoisted onto his shoulders. He knew William phoning him at seven-thirty in the morning was never a good thing.

"We need to see what's in that blue bag. So get in the car and get that garage open," William ordered his friend.

"Are you sure I'm still in the clear?" Oz asked as he looked around nervously. He almost tripped over William's misshapen parameter.

William checked his other line where Xander was waiting for him. "Xan, where's Michaels now?"

Xander walked inconspicuously down one of the aisles at a hardware store. "He's shovel shopping," Xander told William as he walked past Michaels. "Visual coming your way," Xander told William as he started taking pictures of Michaels from behind a wooden podium.

Oz struggled to get over the fence. He had to use a lawn chair to get a little more height because he was too short to jump it on his own. "Are you sure I'm clear?"

William watched as the pictures Xander took popped up on his computer screen. "Yeah, you're golden, man. He's still in the store." He went back to looking out the window to see where Oz was.

"Okay, here we go." Oz struggled to get the backpack off once he was next to the silver Toyota. He ended up falling on his ass.

Xander now hid behind a paint sample stand, peeking over it to see Michaels. Michaels stood at the cash register with his purchase waiting to be served. Xander began taking more pictures.

The pictures came up on William's screen. He stared at it, watching as they popped up one by one. "Well, that's pretty cool."

"What are you talking about?" Oz asked from over the phone.

"Xander's got, like, a live feed going here," William told him as he continued to stare at the pictures.

Xander watched as Michaels set down his shovel and walked away. Xander once again started to follow him.

Oz was grunting as he used a coat hanger to try and unlock the drivers' side door. "This is a lot harder than it looks on the Internet," Oz complained.

"You're doing great, man. You're doing great." William used the binoculars to watch Oz.

Xander walked out from one of the aisles looking for Michaels. He wasn't sure which way he ended up going and knew he couldn't afford to lose him. He kept walking not really looking where he was going. As he walked past another aisle someone ran into him making him drop his phone.

"Xander!" It was Liam, who looked so excited to see Xander. "Hi!" Liam said with a smile on his face.

Xander bent down to retrieve his phone. "Call Canceled" was on his LCD screen. "Hi, Peaches," Xander said before he realized what he said. He looked up and saw Liam staring down at him.

"Where did you hear that name?" Liam asked looking extremely upset.

"Hello? Xander?" William said into the phone. "Hello? Xander?" When he got no reply he switched back to Oz.

"Son of a bitch. I'm in." Oz opened the door and slid into the driver's seat and began to look at the visor.

"There you go! Nice. All right, start looking around," William instructed Oz. What happened to Xander?

"Okay," Oz complied and began his search.

"Look under the seat, too." William watched as Oz wiggled around trying to look everywhere he could. "Inside compartments, glove box, the whole nine."

"It's not here, dawg," Oz told him as he continued to rustle papers and stuff.

"Nothing? All right." William bit his lip. His phone began to beep. "All right, keep looking. Hold on," He switched to his other line. "Yes?"

"Will, I lost Michaels," Xander said out of breath as he ran through the parking lot to get to his car. "I ran into Peaches," Xander explained as he keys rattled in his hands.

William's eyes widened. "You lost...When is the last time you saw him?"

"I don't know. About five minutes ago. His car's gone." Xander reached his car and unlocked the door.

"All right, hold on." William went back to Oz. He needed him to get out of there now! "Okay. Oz."

"Yo, yo, here, I found his opener!" Oz said triumphantly as he held the opener up in his hand.

"Okay, listen to me. Pop it open and give me the code right now!" William said frantically.

"No, no, but it looks like I can just open the garage right now," Oz pointed to the garage that was only a few feet away from him.

"No, Oz, don't do that. Don't do that, Oz." William rushed to his desk and grabbed a pencil and notebook. "Just give me the code, okay?" He struggled to open the notebook as his hands trembled.

"Why do you sound so agitated?" Oz asked as he became agitated himself. The opener shook in his hand.

"Okay, listen. Xander just lost Michaels, who's coming home right now. That's why I'm bloody agitated. I need you to read me the code. Okay? So, pop it open and give it to me." William used the binoculars to check out the roads to see if Michaels was anywhere close.

"What? Oh, no, no, no. Operation Stupid is officially over." Oz put the opener back, got out of the car and began to close the door behind him.

"No! Oz, no! Listen to me." William tried to control the situation. They were too close to back away now. "Stop right there, turn around and give me the code." He heard Oz let out an annoyed grunt and watched him get back into the car. "Pop it open and give me the code! You're right there! Pop it open and go. Pop it open and give it to me, Oz.".

Oz grabbed up the opener once again and tried to open it. "I can't get this... I can't... It's not opening, okay?" Oz stated as he continued to pull and tug on the cover.

William's phone beeped again. "Okay, keep trying. Hold on." He switched back to Xander. "Hello?"

Xander turned on his car and pushed down on the gas, the tired squealed as he made a hard left hand turn. "Will, you've gotta get Oz out of there. Now!"

"Yeah, I know, I know. He's got the code. He's giving it to me right now," William informed Xander. His heart was about to pump right out of his chest.

"Well, tell him to hurry. Shit!" Xander hit the brakes hard making the tires squeal again. Michaels stood only a few feet in front of his car.

William didn't hear Xander's startled cry. "Okay, okay, okay." He disconnected from Xander and went back to Oz. "Hello? Oz, go."

Oz was panting on his end of the line. "Are you ready? It's one down."

"Mr. Harris." Michaels tilted his head to the left before walking to the passenger's side of the car.

"Will?" Xander whispered into his phone.

"Three up, four up. No, no, no. Sorry, I screwed that up." Oz said over the phone as William wrote the numbers down furiously.

William scribbled it out and took a deep breath. "Okay. Up?"

"Four down." Oz corrected.

"Will?" Xander whispered louder. His eyes were glued to Michaels. He breathed loudly as Michaels's leaned against his open window.

"Hi. I'm Fred Michaels." Michaels said with a smile. "I live behind you."

"Oh, yeah." Xander tried to smile but failed.

Michaels suddenly reached through the car window and grabbed the car keys from the ignition before Xander could stop him. He then climbed in and before Xander could open his door Michaels locked them both in. "Would you mind? It's just a little rude." Michaels made Xander turn off his cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Xander asked looking directly at Michaels and trying to appear as if he wasn't scared out of his mind.

Michaels looked out the front window before looking back at Xander. "Well, I'm officially welcoming you to the neighborhood." He paused and stared back at Xander." I know that you've been following me." Xander opened his mouth to deny it. "Don't. No, don't. Don't deny it. I'm not upset. And, quite frankly, I don't even want to know why. I just would like you to know that I'm a little on the shy side. So unless all this sneaking around is some kind of hip, new-aged way of coming on to a somewhat older man-" Michaels looked Xander up and down. "And yes, I am aware of your sexual orientation. I really feel obliged to tell you that I rather enjoy my privacy. You see, the world is..." Michaels looked around again, Xander wasn't sure if he was making sure they were still alone or what. "It's in a heightened state of paranoia. And I tend to think that someone as intelligent and attractive as you doesn't need to be wasting his time stoking the fire."

"I..." Xander didn't know what to say.

Michaels smiled again and shrugged a little. "So, now you know. You're not the only one who's watching." Michaels leaned towards Xander making him gasp and push further against the car door. Michaels put the key back into the ignition and turned the car back on. "So, feel free to pass that along if you'd like. Cool?" When Xander didn't answer him he repeated himself. "Are we cool?"

Xander nodded and stammered, "Cool. Cool."

"Cool." Michaels put the key back in the ignition, opened his door and slid out.

Xander sat there and watched him walk away.


	17. Chapter 17

Title: House Arrest 17/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part Seventeen**

"All right. That's it," William stood up from his seat. "Give me the phone. I'm calling the cops." William demanded and Oz passed him the phone.

"Wait. He didn't do anything," Xander intervened as Oz tossed William the phone. "All he said was that he liked his privacy."

"But think about that. Why does he want his bloody privacy? I mean, he's hiding something. We know that," William said and pointed to Oz for confirmation.

"Yeah, definitely," Oz was quick to agree. Something was definitely creepy about this guy. If he hadn't already thought so, he thought so now.

"And he knows that we know that. He knows that. And regardless of whether he had a bad day or a good... it doesn't matter. He scared the hell out of you. That's a grown man," William said as he pointed out the window at Michaels's house. He couldn't let that freak just scare his Xander like that!

Xander sighed and grabbed William's hand. "Look, Will, he freaked me out, but he's right. We're the ones spying."

Oz looked at Xander, horrified. "Oh, man, he's got that Stockholm thing. You know, where the hostage falls for the hostage taker."

"Where do you get this stuff?" Xander asked with an annoyed huff.

"I read a lot," Oz replied and looked a bit offended.

William pulled away. "Okay. I got a... How is that a nice or charming guy?"

"I didn't say that," Xander denied. He hated seeing William so upset. It was nice that William was worried about him though.

"No, okay, Xan, what you said was..." William paced, trying to get his thoughts in order. "You said, 'He broke into my car, but he did it in a nice way.'" He looked back and forth between Xander and Oz clearly confused. "Maybe I'm not understanding."

"Okay, you know what?" Oz interfered afraid that things would get more out of hand than they already were. "Can we just..."

"Drop this?" Xander said as he looked directly at William. "This is obviously not a cute little game anymore. This has gone way too far."

Xander's phone suddenly rang and _Beethoven's fifth_ suddenly played letting him know it was his mother. "Hi." "No, I'm not over there." "Okay, I'm coming." He shut off his phone. "It's my parents' anniversary, amazingly enough." Xander gave William a quick kiss. "Just drop this, okay? I'll call you later." He walked out not giving William a chance to say anything.

'This is Oz. Make it good.' Oz's voice mail came on when William called. "Oz, I did some research on Michaels' house, okay? I'm looking at the blueprints, and it says that when this house was first built, this main house and the garage weren't connected. And now there's this whole middle piece. That middle piece wasn't there. I mean, what would he need that for? I'm just thinking out loud. Call me back." William hung up his phone and looked down at the blueprints that lay across his desk.

In the dark, William sat in his video game chair and stared out at Michaels's house. He watched as the garage door opened. The silver Toyota was parked next to the Mustang. There was a light or two on inside Michaels's house but no sign of any movement.

William threw intermittent glances out the window as he started to unscrew the back of the DV cam. He lifted the back off, then reached in a nearby box and pulled out a Bluetooth wireless circuit board. He started connecting it inside the camera. William screwed the back of the camera on and took a swig of a soda.

There was suddenly a fierce knock on William's front door. William jumped from his chair and grabbed the bat. "Who is it?" He called through the door. No way was he making the same mistake and having the brats attack him again!

"It's Oz, man! Let me in!" Oz said frantically.

William opened the door and let Oz in. "Did you get my message?"

"No. Listen, I dropped my phone in his car!" Oz said frantically.

"Wait, wait, wait." William tried to get Oz to slow down.

"I went home, it wasn't in my pockets. I must have put it down when I was putting the thing back on." Oz explained waving his hands around.

William grabbed Oz's arms to stop him from flailing around. "Oz, I'll help you get your phone back. But you have to help me."

Oz shook his head. "Operation Stupid continues. I knew it."


	18. Chapter 18

Title: House Arrest 18/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

A shaky and grainy video image appeared on William's computer screen. William picked up one of Oz's old walkie-talkies. "You read?" William asked Oz through one of the walkie talkies.

"Yeah, you got a signal?" Oz came back with slight static but not enough for either of them to worry about.

On William's computer screen, Oz aimed the video camera at his face.

"We're good." William confirmed.

"How am I looking?" Oz asked. All he wanted was his cell phone and then to get the hell out of there.

William picked up the binoculars. He saw that there were lights on at the opposite end of the house. "Lights are on, far end."

"I guess it's now or never. Moving out," Oz replied with a deep breath.

William turned back to the computer screen and saw Oz's feet as he darted across the yard. Oz tilted the lens up as he approached the fence.

"No movement." William told Oz, letting him know that there was still no sight of Michaels'

Oz hopped the fence. "First hurdle…" The image went to snow for a split second - the signal weakening.

William peered out the window. He could barely make out Oz's silhouette as he made his way toward the garage. "Twenty feet. Ten feet…" Rapidly he approached the side of the garage. Slowly he stuck his hand around the side and clicked the garage opener. A few seconds later he clicked it again causing the door to jolt to a halt. "Oh, God. I made a lot of noise. Did you see anything?"

A quick check and still no movement from Michaels. "You're good."

A very shaky Oz made his way to the driver door of the Toyota. It took him a few minutes to slim jim the lock again. When the lock clicked he pulled out a pen light, aimed it at the door, and lifted up on the latch, and the door popped open.

"Bingo." Oz's hand felt around the seat and floor of Michaels's car.

William's call waiting suddenly beeped. He looked at the caller I.D it was Xander. Shit. He had to let it go.

"I'm not seeing it…" Oz whispered in a panic.

"Stay calm, it's there," William said in a calming voice. He didn't need Oz freaking out and getting them both caught.

Oz's hand finally pulled out the cell phone. "I got it!"

William did another check on Michaels's house. Still no sign of movement. "You're still clear, check the bag."

"Hang on…" Oz's hand gently pushed the door of Michaels's Toyota closed. William now watched Oz's feet as they strode deeper into the garage and walked in between the Toyota and Mustang. "I'm setting the camera on the trunk."

Oz set the camera on the trunk of the Mustang and aimed it perfectly at the blue bag that sat in the corner. Oz entered the frame, as he crouched low, and headed toward the bag. He raised the walkie talkie. "It does look like blood - and hair…"

William watched as Oz knelt down, started to open the bag. But suddenly, the camera started to slowly, steadily track to the left. "The camera's sliding…"

Oz spun and grabbed the camera. "That was close." There was a noise. "Oh shit…"

William looked out and saw Michaels's garage door started to close. "Oz?"

Oz's response came back staticky. "- Make it - interference -somebody's here…"

"Oz?" William said again. All he got was dead air and the garage door slammed shut.

William looked back to the screen just as Oz picked up the camera and aimed it at his face. He looked terrified. The camera swung away as Oz's feet scrambled along the concrete floor and then - they appeared to race through a doorway onto dimly lit hardwood floor.

"Bloody hell. He's in the house." He brought the walkie back up to his mouth. "Oz?" There was still no response.

William could do nothing but watch Oz's feet continue to haul ass down a hallway, rounded a corner onto carpet, than back onto hardwood.

Oz suddenly panned the camera up to his face as he ran, clearly mouthing "HELP ME!"

"Oz! Shit…"

Then the camera seemed to fall, sliding on the hardwood floor towards an old bookcase. The image cut out and it went to snow.

William jumped up and paced. He peered out the window to Michaels's. No telling what the hell's happening - or happened - in there. William eyed his ankle bracelet. Green light. He eyed his bat and grabbed it. Fuck it.

He darted to Michaels's back door, tried the knob - locked. "Oz, can you hear me? Michaels, open the door!"

The house remained still. William bolted around the side; he uneasily felt his way through shadows and low-hanging branches. It was even darker on this side. No lights on in Michaels's house. William cautiously rounded the side, approached the front door – it was open a few inches - darkness beyond. William eyed it. He then stepped up onto the porch, about to push it open when sirens blared.

William spun around to see a police cruiser roll to a stop. He raced towards it as two uniformed officers stepped out. "Hey!" William was so relieved to see the cops that he didn't notice Officer Gutierrez.

Gutierrez pulled his sidearm and aimed it at William. " Freeze. Hands above your head, now!" the first officer ordered.

"Please, my friend's been kidnapped, he's in this house - he's inside, I think the owner's trying to kill him…" William explained but put his hands on his head like he was told.

"Stay right there," Gutierrez ordered William.

"I've got it," the second officer said and he headed briskly to Michaels' front door.

Gutierrez brought his radio to his mouth. "Dispatch, 13A74, we're 10-26 with the kid, he's claiming a 10-31 at..." He eyed the numbers above Michaels' door. "4710 Fairway Court. The house behind his residence, request 10-78."

The dispatcher came back to him. "13A74, ten-four, units already in the area, will advise."

William watched as the other officer approached Michaels door. "It's open."

"It was already open," William told him.

The officer knocked on the door and rang the bell. No answer. He was about to knock again when a light comes on inside. Michaels opened the door. He looked disheveled, in his bathrobe. "Uh, yes, can I help you, officer?"

"Sorry to wake you, sir, we have a young man here claiming a friend of his is in your house. Would you know anything about that?" the officer asked Michaels.

Michaels laughed, "No, I certainly wouldn't."

"You're a lying son of a bitch!" William screamed and Officer Gutierrez had to restrain him as another cruiser rolled to a stop. A third and fourth officer hopped out and headed to the officer that restrained William.

"Take it easy kid," one of the newly arrived officers told William.

William persisted in his struggle. "He's in there, goddammit! He's inside! He's lying!"

With nothing else to do the officer pulled William away from Gutierrez and back to the cruiser, opened the back door and pushed him down on the seat. "Sir, calm down."

"Okay, but he's lying - he has my friend, and he kidnapped that girl last week, he killed maybe three others, all redheads, they could be in a bag - a big blue plastic bag - in his garage - my friend knew this …" William looked at Michaels. "That's why he's covering - he didn't just wake up five minutes ago."

The officer looked concerned as he stepped away from William. He went to another cop. "Can you…" He pointed towards William.

The officer nodded as his partner headed back up to Michaels and Gutierrez. William watched as he whispered something to Gutierrez and they turned back to Michaels

The officer that had just been with William asked, "Sir, do you mind if we take a look inside?"

A couple more police cruisers rolled to a stop. Curious neighbors were now gathered across the street.

"Absolutely, be my guest." Michaels ushered them through the door and followed them into the house. Michaels turned and shot a quick glance to William before he closed the door behind him.

All William could do was wait, he shifted his gaze to the gathering neighbors. A few locked eyes with him and shook their heads. William turned back toward the house.

A short time later the garage door slowly rose. The officer, standing with William, waited at the door opened all the way.

A light came on inside. Michaels and Gutierrez came out of the inner garage door as another officer dragged the blue bag out from the garage. Sure enough, there was blood smeared and visible strands of matted hair near the top. He untied the bag, and pulled the sides away. Everyone gathered around, peered inside, and then suddenly yanked themselves back at the horrible stench that emanated from within.

William looked smug until Gutierrez crooked his finger toward him and gestured for him to take a look. He stepped toward the bag. Slowly he peered into the bag and William stared into the eyes of a dead - DEER.

"I hit it the other night. Thought I'd save a few steps and get it off the road myself. I was gonna bury it sooner, but it's been a helluva week," Michaels told him as he looked down at the lifeless animal.

William didn't buy it, "But you found time to fix your fender, though, right? "

Michaels' talked over him about the Mustang. "Well, that car is a classic. I had to get it out of storage for the auto show. I needed it in pristine condition."

"It's one of the biggest in the world," officer number two said, then added, "The auto show."

All eyes were on William. He slumped. Michaels had an answer for everything.

"I think we're done here. Sorry for the intrusion, sir." The officers descended the driveway.

"Please, I understand." When the officers were far enough away Michaels made his way back into his house.

The uniforms led William back down the driveway.

"So where's my friend, then? Can anyone tell me that? Does anyone believe me?" William asked quietly, he was physically and emotionally drained. He looked over, and saw Jenny Calendar, standing with Joyce whose eyes were filled with it all: anger, concern, sadness...

"William, come on…" Joyce ushered her son back to their yard.

William turned back to Michaels's house. Lights had been turned out inside. As William shifted his gaze forward, he locked eyes with Xander who stood in the crowd of neighbors. Xander watched him with concern. William turned away and dropped his head as the cops, Ms. Calendar and Joyce led him away. A flash of lightning crashed in the distance.


	19. Chapter 19

Title: House Arrest 19/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part ****Eighteen**

William sat at the kitchen staring off at nothing.

"This is his second violation. He is due in court at nine A.M tomorrow morning," Jenny told Joyce.

"Can he press charges?" Joyce asked concerned about what could happen to her son.

"Your son was in his house, Mrs. Rayne." Officer Walsh said. William remembered that was the officer who held him back. "So yes, Mr. Michaels could file charges if he chooses."

"Thank you," Joyce sniffled and showed them to the front door. "Goodnight."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Calendar and Officer Walsh." Joyce nodded to them and opened the door. A few more inaudible words were exchanged before she gently closed the door behind them. Joyce headed back into the living room and sat across from William.

"I can't believe this…" Joyce started.

"I can't believe you are actually buying that guys bullshit!" William slammed his hand down on the table with a loud bang.

"What after the bullshit you just pulled?" Joyce yelled. She was frustrated with William and just everything. "And after all the shit you pulled this past year you're lucky they didn't lock you up!" She paused trying to calm herself. "I have to go talk to him."

William whipped his head towards his mother. "What the hell are you talking about? Now?"

Joyce ran a hand through her hair. "He could press charges."

"I don't care if he presses charges!" William yelled and stood up. His mother couldn't go over to that psycho killer's house!

"SIT DOWN!" Joyce ordered. "I care." William stood there stunned before sitting back down. "You are breaking my heart Will." Will looked down at the table miserably.

William entered his room amidst a few more lightning flashes and distant rolls of thunder. He paced back and forth a few times before he headed to his window and glanced out at Michaels's house. His mom stood at the front door and knocked on the door. With a sigh William drew the shade and stuck his cell in the charger.

He collapsed to the bed and stared at the roof over his head. _Like a Virgin_ suddenly blared on his cell phone. William stared at it... then jumped from his bed, raced to the phone, ripped it from the charger and flipped it open -

On the phone's LCD screen a text message came up. 'LOOK AT YOUR TV.'

A wide eyed William put the cell phone on his desk and slowly shifted his gaze to his computer monitor - a grainy image popped on, shaky at first. Then it finally steadied, and cleared up. A torso and face come into focus: Oz, lying in the corner of a very enclosed space. Eyes open, head tilted against the wall. Dead.

"OH MY GOD!" Nearly hyperventilating, Kale leaned closer to the screen; he saw a pile of clothes and his Twinkie Tower lying next to Oz.

"Shit…" William realized that Oz was in his closet. Slowly William turned and eyed his closet door. He then stepped towards it, reached out and slid the closet door open. Oz was lying in the corner…dead.

"Oz," William knelt down to Oz who suddenly popped back to life!

"Boo!"

William screamed and fell back to the floor as Oz cracked up.

More lightning flashed and thunder. William staggered to his feet. Stunned. He didn't know whether to hug Oz or beat the shit out of him.

"Dude, don't kill me, don't kill me. I can explain…" Oz raised his hands to protect himself from any possible blows. A giggle escaped and angered William.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through?" William grabbed Oz by the front of the shirt and slammed him into closet door frame. He had been sure that Oz was dead some where in Michaels's house.

"Hey come on…" Oz looked scared.

"I thought you were dead." William pushed away from Oz and walked about breathing hard, his hand on his chest.

"Did you want me to popped out to the cops and say, 'Oh yeah, officers, my friend's right, I was just in that house, I'd gone to get my cell phone out of the guy's car I broke into earlier.' Are you kidding me?" Oz asked following William out. "Look all I could think about was 'I don't want to go to jail. Hide, Hide.' And I went into the closet and yeah… okay, okay that was a bad joke but I just wasn't thinking straight. Please. Please," Oz begged.

"I get it. I get it." William placed a hand on Oz's shoulder, partly in comfort but another to make sure he really was there.

Oz sighed in relief. "Good. Good." He smiled a little. "But I do have to ask... what was in the bag?" Oz asked he wondered if he should consider going into therapy for almost touching a dead body

"Dead deer." William replied and sounded disappointed. He knew he wasn't wrong about Michaels.

They both looked out the window again. Michaels just opened the door. A few words were exchanged that neither William nor Oz could hear and than Joyce entered the house.

"What is your mom doing over there?" Oz asked looking between the house across the street and William

"Keeping me out of jail," William said, he was worried both for his mother and himself. What if he was wrong?

Oz's eyes widened. He pulled out the cam he had with him. "Oh, you know what then. Before the cops get a hold of this evidence you should check this out." Oz walked over to the computer. "I got my whole great escape on video." He plugged the camera into the computer. "I hope this works I dropped it."

William only half listened as he grabbed the binoculars again and looked across the street just to make sure his mom was safe. He saw Michaels and his mom walking across the kitchen and into the living room.

"Dude I was in your closet for like two weeks! I gotta take a leak." Oz started it up. "Check it out, it's genius." With a snap of his fingers Oz spun around and walked out.

The video played on in the background as William stared out the window. When video Oz screamed William turned around. In the video the camera dropped from Oz's hands and slid across the floor towards Michaels's bookcase. For a split second it was aimed under the bookcase before Oz had picked it back up and kept running. "What the hell…" With one last look at his mom William walked backwards to the computer. William scanned the tape back, where Oz dropped the camera.

Joyce and Michaels sat on his couch as she talked to him. "Yeah but it's just been real hard on him," Joyce explained to Michaels. Her arms were wrapped around herself as she tried to give herself some comfort. "He still blames himself."

"I understand that. Feelings like that… they just don't go away." Michaels said in an understanding voice as he took a sip of wine.

Just as the camera slid to a stop at the bookcase and aimed underneath it, William froze the image. It was dark and grainy. William scooted closer to the screen amidst another flash of lightning and a louder clap of thunder. With his finger he pressed the frame by frame button. He started to see something under the bookcase.

"Thank you so much." Joyce said to Michaels, who walked her to the door. "You've just been so great about this."

"Well it's been my pleasure." They smiled at one another.

Before Joyce could open the door, Michaels grabbed a chunk of her hair and slammed her face first into the wall.

Oz entered the kitchen and started to rummage through the fridge. He pulled a soda out and then went for the cabinets

William pressed the button a couple more times. On the screen- The next frames were blurred. On the video Oz just grabbed the camera back - but – William pressed the advance button one more time. The next frame popped into focus. There under the bookcase, was woman's face! Her long red hair partially covered her ghostly, wide open eyed that stared right into the camera.

William recoiled in horror as lightning ignited his room. He ran to his door screaming, "Oz, get your ass up here!"

But a roll of thunder drowned out William's voice

Oz threw a bag of popcorn in the microwave, punched the clock and pressed start. As he reached behind him for his soda can on the island, suddenly Michaels appeared and swung a baseball bat across Oz's face - FWACK! Oz dropped behind the island.

"Oz?" William called over his shoulder. He had returned to the computer, just staring at the face that stared back at him

A reflection appeared in the screen. Michaels stood a few feet behind William. When Michaels brought the bat down, William swerved left. The bat barely missed his head and smashed the computer screen.

William ran from his room and down the stairs. He spotted Oz on the floor jumping over his limp body, and ran to the central tracking unit to unplug it. The cops would hopefully show up before he was the next victim of Michaels.

Michaels appeared taking another swing at William who ducked it and grabbed for the black box. Michaels grabbed both ends of the bat and hooked it around William's neck, pulled him away with a hard yank, tossed him over the island and sent both William and various pots and pans to the floor.

Struggling to stand, William scurried across the floor and out the door but tripped on a well-placed garden gnome on the steps. Michaels or the Greenwood brats must have put it there. Regardless, it slowed William down. He staggered into the yard and screamed for anyone to hear. But the wind and thunder drowned him out as Michaels came up right behind him swung the bat and tripped William up. William fell just short of his kite string boundary line. Like a quarterback pressing to the goal line, William lunged forward, but Michaels's hand swiftly grabbed William's ankle just as the ankle bracelet was about to cross the line.

William screamed and dug his fingers into the earth as he tried to pull himself forward, but Michaels was too strong. He dragged William backward, flipped him on to his back and pinned him to the ground, before he sent a solid punch to William's head knocking him out cold.

He pulled out a roll of duct tape, quickly and efficiently wrapped some around William's mouth, hands and ankles. Michaels grabbed William by his bound ankles and dragged him across the yard back into William's house.


	20. Chapter 20

Title: House Arrest 20/20 + Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character. Also character death (Not the boys)

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Part ****Twenty**

Michaels dumped William onto the chair beside his dad's desk. William's eyes fluttered open and he blinked as he tried to get his sight focused. Michaels popped open the camcorder and pulled out the tape that had the video of the dead woman on it. He then sat himself down onto the couch.

"So, he got her on tape?" Michaels asked as he watched William. "I really didn't want this. All I wanted was to live in peace, which is why we gotta keep the spotlight on you. You've done most of the work already. You are the troubled neighborhood boy who cried wolf. But now…" A smile slid onto Michaels's face. "You are really going to snap.

First, you killed your buddy because he was calling your boyfriend behind your back. And now we gotta bring your mom over here so you can slit her throat, because she just wouldn't stop blaming you for killing your dad," Michaels explained to William as he pulled out a cloth from his sock. He unwrapped it to reveal the red handed knife that William had used the other day for his bagel. "So, it sounds good? Good."

He stood back up and made his way back to William who flinched back. "Pen and paper." Michaels grabbed a sheet of paper placed it in front of William and stuffed a pen into William's bound hands before slamming them onto the desk. Write this down.

"Dear Xander, I killed Oz..."

"Will?" Xander's voice called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Will!"

The distraction startled Michaels long enough for William to smacked Michaels with his bound hands and send him to the floor. William hopped out the door and bumped into Xander. "Oh my God, Will!"

"Behind you!" William's yell was muffled behind the tape that gagged him. Xander turned a little too late as Michaels back handed him into the wall. William tried to pounce on Michaels with an angry cry.

Michaels pushed William down just before Xander shoved him, sending him over the banister.

Xander scrambled to help William to his feet. He pulled William back down the hall.

He shoved William inside as he spun back and slammed the office door shut. William flipped the lock into place.

With a quick tug Xander ripped the duct tape off William's mouth. William screamed in pain. Xander searched William's pockets for his phone. "It's dead."

Xander scrambled to the desk and grabbed a pair of scissors. He cut William's ankles and hands free. "Where's your mom?"

"Michaels's house." They both froze as they heard metal clank on metal. William stood and searched for a weapon. Xander panted heavily as he leaned against the door.

A metal object crashed through the door inches away from Xander's head. He screamed and scrambled over to where William was located.

Wildly, William looked around as Michaels continued to smash the door in. "We have to jump," He opened the door out to the deck and ushered Xander out first. When they both were on the deck he took a deep breath ready to jump. "Now!" Simultaneously they ran to the left side of the house and jumped over the fence into Xander's backyard and into the pool.

They both emerged from the water and William looked down to see the red light flashing on his ankle bracelet. He looked up and smirked when he saw Michaels standing on the deck and staring down at them. "I've got to get my mum." William swam to the edge. "Make sure the cops are coming, okay?"

"Fuck that!" Xander followed and heaved his body from the cool water. "I'm not letting you go in there alone!" William opened his mouth to argue. "Are you coming or not?" Xander asked and started his way to Michaels's house.

They rushed to back to the front of William's yard where he pulled the garden shears that he used for his boundary before bounding over to the front of Michaels's house. William used the handles of the garden shears to break the glass on the door. The glass shattered and he stuck his hand through and unlocked the door. He walked in, Xander right behind him. "Mum!"

Officer Gutierrez walked out of a convenience store with a milkshake and burger when dispatch called him. "13-Adam? 13-Adam-74, come in."

He grabbed his radio, "13-Adam-74. Go ahead."

"Yeah, I realize your shift's over, but that kid just hopped the fence again. You still want first dibs?" the dispatcher asked.

Officer Gutierrez smirked. "13-Adam-74. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take care of it. Roger that. Over." He took a large bite out of his burger. "Yeah, when I take care of it."

"Mum?" William called out. They both listened for any kind of sound. Nothing.

"Here!" William nudged Xander. "The bookcase!" He rushed over and tried to push it out of the way. Xander came and helped. Together they pushed it away with ease.

Xander grabbed a lit lamp near by and pulled the shade off while William knelt down and pulled the grate off the air duct. "Mum?" William accepted the lamp and put it and his head into the small hole. He stared at the dead redhead for moment before turning his head to the left to see if his mum was in there. William screamed and pulled his head out and almost slammed his head into Xander's.

"What?" Xander grabbed at William. "I-is it your mom?"

"No…" William stood and took a breath. "There's another woman. It looks like she's been there a couple months. We got to keep moving." They continued to walk. William occasionally banged on a wall.

Xander looked confused, "What are you doing?"

"Mum is a realtor. I broke into her computer and found the prints for Michaels's house. He added a section. I'm thinking that's were he is keeping my mum."

They walked past a window just before lightning struck again. Michaels outside and just stared in.

William banged on another wall. This time it sounded hollow. "This is it!" They heard muffled screams. "Mum!" He pounded a few more times on the wooden wall before it popped open. William and Xander looked at each other before entering the secret room.

William found the light switch and turned it on. The room lit up. It looked like an operating room of some sort. Xander nudged William in the shoulder and pointed over to a deep freeze that had a lock on it. With a deep breath William approached it and slowly lifted the lid. It was full of ice; he used the garden shears to move some of it around before he determined there was no one in it. They both heard the screams again.

Officer Gutierrez pulled up to Michaels's residence a short time later. He saw that the window on the door had been broken and the door was ajar. With a shake of his head he walked up the sidewalk.

Xander pulled back a white drape to reveal more of the room. He picked up a set of keys and a wallet that was on the cupboard.

"That's one of the club girls," William told him and Xander dropped it as if he had been burned. William's brow furrowed when he spotted a red wig. His fingers touched it gently. "She never left." He looked up and saw a light coming from behind the cupboard. "We got to move this."

"Count of three. One. Two. Three." They pulled and the cupboard moved with ease just as the bookcase had. It slammed against the wall. There was another secret passage that led to the basement.

Officer Gutierrez turned on his flashlight as he stepped on broken glass. He bent down when William had dropped the lamp. "Mr. Michaels? Sir, are you here? Police."

He head flew up when he heard a loud noise.

"Mum?" William called out as he tried the light switches. "Mum?"

"There's a flashlight." Xander said and grabbed it and knocked something down the stairs before he was able to turn it on. He shot William a look before he led the way down the stairwell.

Officer Gutierrez stood up and grabbed his gun when he heard another crash. He slowly made his way down the hall.

When Xander and William reached the bottom the flashlight danced across more photo I.D.s of other missing women. William's mother cried out. "Mum?"

The floor creaked under Officer Gutierrez's weight as he walked further down the hall. He had no idea what was going on but he had the feeling that there may be more going on than he knew about.

William was looking around the room and wasn't watching where he was going that his head slammed into a pipe. "Bloody hell!"

"Are you okay?" Xander whispered as he shined the light at William's face.

"Fine, we need to find my mum," William told him. He could worry about any kind of concussion after he knew his mom was safe.

Joyce's muffled cries became louder. "Mum?" William started moving again. The wooden panels beneath his feet creaked. He bounced a little to make sure they would hold his weight. It couldn't and it collapsed under him.

"Will!" Xander cried out as William disappeared from sight.

William let out a groan when he hit muddy water; he pushed his hair back from his eyes. He guessed it was some underground sewage. Just what he needed, to smell like shit on top of everything else. "Give me a hand, pet." William called up and stood. When something brushed against his leg he looked down and screamed. Another body had risen from under the water. William looked around and saw several other bodies as well. "Now!"

Xander lay on his stomach and reached his hand out to William. "Come on. Grab my hand."

William latched on to Xander's hand and was pulled out from the watery grave. "Why do I keep finding the bodies?"

Before Xander could answer him the screams started up again.

Deciding that his gut feeling was too much to ignore Gutierrez stopped and reached for his radio. "Dispatch, 13-Adam..." He was cut off when Michaels stepped out of the darkness behind him and with a hard twist broke Officer Gutierrez's neck.

"Mum?" William called out.

Xander waved the flash light around hoping to spot her. Something clattered behind them making them jump. They saw no one.

More cries echoed off the walls. They were louder now; William knew his mother was close. They continued forward. When they turned the corned they saw Joyce with her hands tied above her to a pipe, duct tape covered her mouth. "Mum!" William rushed to her. "You're okay, you're okay. Here, I got you." He used the garden shears to cut the rope.

Joyce fell to the ground. Xander moved to help her just as she was pulled up by Michaels, who held a knife to her throat. He tossed Joyce at Xander sending them both to the ground and Michaels went for William.

William ducked just as the knife came at his head. It clanked against the cement wall. He made a move to run to get some space between him and Michaels but this time he wasn't fast enough and Michaels slashed the knife into William's back before slamming him into a wall.

Michaels slammed William into the wall again making him lose his grip on the garden shears. He placed the knife against William's neck. "You made me do this."

Xander grabbed some kind of tool that lay where Joyce had been tied up and jammed it into Michaels's leg.

With a scream Michaels turned around and back-handed Xander.

Free, William bent down and grabbed the shears. He opened them just as Michaels turned his attention back to him and raised the knife. With a scream William thrust the shears forward into Michaels's chest. He slammed him into the wall imbedding the shears further. Michaels dropped the knife.

William grabbed the front of Michaels's shirt with one hand while he kept the other on the shears and forced him backwards before he pushed Michaels through the broken floor boards and into the water.

Xander helped Joyce up and they walked over to where William stood. They all stared down at Michaels who stared back at them with dead eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

Title: House Arrest Epilogue

Author: Forsaken2003

Pairing: William/Xander  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon  
Comments: Always welcomed!  
Summary: William is under house arrest after assaulting his teacher. When he starts people watching he notices something strange about his neighbour.  
Warnings/Spoilers: Human Verse. Out of Character.

Note: (An S/X adaptation if the movie 'Disturbia'.) Uses actual dialogue from the movie Please don't sue!

Beta'd by: Whichclothes

**Epilogue**

"You know, I think you're the first one to ever get one of these things taken off early for good behavior," Jenny told William as she removed the ankle bracelet.

"Good behavior?" William looked at her questioningly. Killing someone didn't seem like something he'd call good behavior.

Jenny stood and looked at him. "That's what I'm calling it. You got a problem with it, call somebody who cares."

William held up his hands and laughed a little. "Good behavior."

"You all set to pay the incarceration fee, Mrs. Rayne?" Jenny turned her attention to Joyce.

Joyce's head swung to look at Jenny. "You're kidding." She said with disbelief.

"No, she's not kidding," William said. Jenny didn't seem like the type of person to joke around.

"Today counts." Jenny informed them with a small smile.

"She's not kidding." Joyce said and looked at William with a look of shock.

William shook his head. "No. Look." He pointed to Jenny's face.

"Follow me," Joyce said. She didn't really mind paying the extra twelve dollars. All she cared about was that her son was safe.

William walked out of his house a free man. He spotted Xander and made his way over to him.

"So much for being spatially challenged." Xander said from across William's barrier and jogged over to him.

"Does it scare you?" William asked as he grabbed a hold of the string and lifted it over his head.

Xander smirked, "Oh, yes. It terrifies me." He ran his hand through William's blonde locks and pulled him in for a kiss. When they pulled away from each other William smiled at him. "So, what happens now?"

William stood there for a minute before smirking.

"Hello?" Mrs. Greenwood answered the phone.

William and Xander watched from across the street.

"Mrs. Greenwood, hi. This is Joe Smith from the satellite company." William made his voice go a little lower so he wouldn't be caught. "Well, we're just calling to check up on our adult programming subscribers."

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Greenwood asked sounding extremely confused.

William cleared his throat to stop from laughing. "Skin flicks, ma'am. That's what the kids are calling 'em."

"Excuse me? What?" Mrs. Greenwood was now confused and embarrassed.

"Well, we see that you're currently accessing it, ma'am, as we speak. From receiver 3, second floor of your house." William informed her. Xander used the binoculars to watch her reaction before moving back up to the boys.

"But that's not possible," Mrs. Greenwood stated, becoming offended.

"I'm just doing my job," William said, not able to suppress his laugh this time.

Mrs. Greenwood hung up the phone and stormed through the house. William and Xander watched as she pulled open the boys' bedroom door. "What are you watching?

What do you think you're doing?"

"Nice." Xander let out a little laugh and turned to look at William. "You feel better now?"

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah," William replied with a laugh of his own. "But that's just the first strike, though."

Xander tilted his head to the side. "Really?"

"Well, yeah, it's an ongoing offensive against neighborhood evil. I'm very dedicated," William said as he pressed his body up against Xander's.

"You're my hero," Xander replied as he kissed William. They fell back onto the couch, their lips slammed together. William straddled Xander's hips.

Suddenly they pulled away from each other when they heard slurping. They both looked at the doorway. Oz stood there with a large black and blue bruise on his eye. A can of Coke with a straw was in his right hand and the DV camera in his left hand. It was aimed right at them.

Xander smirked at Oz while William glared at him before they began kissing again. "Soon to be the most popular video on YouTube," Oz declared and William gave him the two finger salute, his lips never leaving Xander's.

The End.


End file.
